


Tangles and Knots

by Tofutti



Series: Linked Universe [2]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: ADVENTURE!!!, Aggressive symbolism, Angst, Blood and Injury, Body Horror, Drowning, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Panic Attacks, Protective Legend (Linked Universe), Suicidal Thoughts, all for whump and whump for all, it's passive but it's there and also discussed pretty thoroughly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:57:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tofutti/pseuds/Tofutti
Summary: Wild is smuggling Hyrule out of camp again to do Hylia-knows-what, and even though Legend wants nothing more than to sleep, he finds himself following them. He’s afraid of what will happen if he doesn’t.
Relationships: Legend & Hyrule & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: Linked Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651279
Comments: 50
Kudos: 329





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got a little sidetracked writing Sweet and then that turned into a lot sidetracked. Enjoy this monstrosity  
> Beta'd by my best friend Miseo. Thanks for putting up with my bullcrap, Miseo <3  
> Inspired, in part, by this comic: https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/post/189479264839/divine-dark-reflections-pt2-previous-next  
> And without further ado, the actual story! Hooray, I guess  
> 5/6: This work is split into chapters now. If this is your first time reading and you don't want spoilers, I don't recommend you look at the comment section for chapter one, because all of the comments from when this work was all in one piece are there. I don't know why my impulsive mind made me do this but there's no going back

The evening is cool and beautiful, the dusk painting the sky a velvety stewed wildberry, and Legend is engaged in a fierce battle with his bag. 

The buckle was ripped off a few days ago. Four promised to make him a replacement if the opportunity arose, but so far it hasn’t. In the meantime, Legend has simply tied the straps together and spent an extra few minutes clawing his way through the knots every time he needs to access its contents. It’s not a problem, or so he kept telling himself. The sweat dripping down his forehead, however, tells a different story.

He sits back on his heels for a minute, rubbing his sore fingernails and glaring at the mangled strips of fabric. Taking a minute to look around camp in an effort not to scream, Legend sighs. 

The dusk is leaving the shadows long and deep against the wild, brushy grass that covers the clearing in a luscious carpet. The trees are knobby and tangled, their waxy green leaves melding with thick patches of moss and delicate ribbons of tiny white and yellow blossoms that trail and twine through the treetops. When they arrived, Wild said the place reminds him of the rain-rich Faron Woods of his Hyrule. 

Camp seems to be slowing down with the conclusion of dinner and the setting of the sun. Most of the heroes are doing what Legend was trying to do and setting up for the night. Wind seems to be nagging Warriors about something, jumping around the older hero with big, watery eyes. Legend gives it two minutes before the Captain’s will breaks. Sky is asleep. Hyrule is…

Legend frowns. _Where_ is _Hyrule?_

He scans the clearing, searching for the kid. He’s nowhere to be found, until Legend’s eyes land on two huddled silhouettes pressed against the treeline.

Wild and Hyrule stand across camp, whispering to each other. Both glance at Time and Twilight, then turn back to each other. Legend narrows his eyes at the Champion, curling his lip. _What, you’re dragging Hyrule into your shit this time, too?_

Then, with one last glance in Time and Twilight’s direction, the two heroes begin to slip off into the woods.

 _These idiots, I swear…_ Legend stands and grabs his second, smaller bag, buckle still intact, clipping it to his belt. He gives the mangled straps of the other one last glare. _I’ll deal with you when I’m back._

The two don’t even notice him as he walks up behind them, too focused on making a clean escape to hear his soft footfalls. He reaches out and puts his hand on Hyrule’s shoulder.

“Ah-awhaaaaAAAA- oh.”

By the time Hyrule realizes that the hand on his shoulder belongs to a tired-looking Legend, his sword is halfway out of his sheath, he’s stumbled back five paces, and Wild has an arrow nocked.

“Calm the fuck down,” Legend says. “It’s just me.”

“Ah,” says Wild, placing the arrow back into his quiver and slinging his bow over his back. “Yes, of course. What do you need?”

“Is anything wrong?” Hyrule asks, trying to look as innocent as possible.

“Yes,” Legend says. He sees right through Hyrule’s cardboard facade, and the next words out of his mouth are, “Where the fuck are you two going?”

“We were just going to collect firewood,” Wild says. “You know, to keep the fire lit through the night for the watch?”

Legend raises an eyebrow. “I’m aware of the purpose of firewood. What I want to know is where you two are _actually_ going.”

“To get firewood,” Hyrule says, enunciating each word. “You know, like he said.”

“I swear…” Legend mutters. “That's the most obvious excuse-”

“Code red!” Wild shouts, 

“Code red?” Legend repeats. “What the fuck does-” 

Legend doesn’t get to finish his question because Hyrule has grabbed his wrist and is now pulling him further into the woods. Legend stumbles to keep up so he isn’t yanked off his feet.

“Hyrule!” Legend gasps, stumbling to keep his footing. “What the fuck!”

“Why did you grab Legend?” Wild pants, feet thudding against the soft grass with no regard to his stealth.

“He’d already seen us,” Hyrule without breaking stride. “It was too late. Safer this way.”

Legend halts, ripping his wrist from Hyrule’s grasp. 

“I’ve got a better question for you,” he says as they whirl around. “What the fuck are we running from?”

“Twilight saw us,” Wild says. “He’ll make us stay at camp. Or worse, he’ll escort us!”

“Come on! He’s fast.” Hyrule turns back around, grabbing Wild’s hand and running off. 

Legend watches them disappear into the forest, then turns to look back towards camp. The voices of his saner companions are distant, whispers of firelight flickering against the tree trunks.

_Twilight will make them go back to camp if he catches them…_

Legend sighs, turning to run after Wild and Hyrule. 

_And they’ll need supervision if he doesn’t._

He’d rather not repeat what happened the last time those two were allowed off on their own. 

**\----**

It takes Legend a while to catch up to Wild and Hyrule. When he does, Wild is trying to pull Hyrule into a tree.

“Come on,” Wild is saying. “I swear I heard him behind us. We need to lose him. He’s too good at tracking to waste any time!”

“Dude, I’m just gonna fall and break something.” Hyrule eyes the tree uneasily. “I’m telling you, we’ve just gotta outrun him.”

“You still want to run?” Wild says. “I swear, you have no sense of stamina.”

“What do you mean?” Hyrule replies, glaring at Wild’s offered hand. “You’re the one who wants to jump through the treetops like a _monkey_. Let’s just keep running.” 

“You’re a madman, Wild.” Legend walks out from behind the treeline. Wild makes a strangled sound, falling off the branch he was perched on and thudding to the ground in the undergrowth, sending waves into the tall grasses. Legend watches, eyebrows raised, as Wild sits up, Hyrule checking him over for injury. 

“Honestly, you’re a madman too, Hyrule. No one can run for that long.” Legend walks over to the two of them as Wild stands, waving Hyrule off. 

“Legend!” Hyrule wraps the hero in an exuberant hug. “You stuck around!” 

Legend’s lip curls, and he pushes Hyrule away. “Please, no. You’ll suffocate me.”

“I’m impressed,” Wild says. “I thought we left you behind ages ago.” He stops, frowning. “You aren’t here to take us back, right? Or rat us out?”

Hyrule looks up at him, eyes wide. “Please?” he says. “Don’t tell Twi where we are. He never lets us do anything fun.”

Legend sighs. “I think you mean stupid. ‘He never lets us do anything stupid.’ And no, the only reason I’m here, not back at camp and minding my own business is because if you two get away with this you’ll need someone to make sure you don’t get yourselves violently murdered.” 

“Sweet,” Wild says.

Hyrule sighs in relief. “None of your ‘follow the path’ crap, alright? We’re going our own way.” 

“In the spirit of adventure!” They both chorus, laughing and high-fiving as though they’ve just won a difficult battle.

Legend rolls his eyes. “If you want to stay away from Twilight, you might want to keep moving.”

“Ah, yes,” Hyrule says. 

“Of course,” Wild says. 

Legend half-smiles. “Lead the way, idiots.”

**\----**

They’ve been walking aimlessly for what feels like hours when the skies open with a great _whomp_ of rain. The grass is slippery, the terrain rocky and uneven and difficult to navigate without breaking an ankle. The leaves have developed a nasty habit of dripping giant _sploosh_ es of water right onto their heads. Legend glares at the night sky, roiling with thick clouds.

“If this place is as much like Faron as I think it is,” Wild says, “the rain will probably stop soon.”

“It’s _dark_ ,” Legend says, “It’s _wet_ , and we walked all day. I want nothing more than to sleep. ‘Soon’ does little to comfort me.”

“Why’d you come along, then?”

“I do wonder…” Legend grumbles. 

“See, this is why I didn’t think we should bring him along,” Wild says as the group comes to a stop at the edge of a great cliff. The land drops off, the rocky slope plunging into the trees below. Raindrops trace their tear-streaked paths down the stone face. Legend can sense the faintest whiff of dark magic on the humid wind. He wrinkles his nose. “He’s just going to complain the whole time.”

“Let’s go left,” Hyrule says. 

“Why?” Legend asks.

“Because.” Hyrule looks at him with a funny smile, as if he should have known that would be the answer, then sneezes. 

“Bless you,” Wild says. 

The three walk along the cliff’s edge, the slick grass bending and waving in the wind. The cool, humid breeze changes directions, then, blowing the scent of sulfur straight into Legend’s face, and he stops walking with a flinch.

“Hyrule?” 

Hyrule looks over his shoulder, wiping his nose across his sleeve. “Yeah?”

“Do you smell that?” 

“ _Smell-?_ ” Hyrule pauses midstep. “Oh. You mean…” he trails off, tilting his head to the side. “I sense _something_ ….”

“Eh, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Wild waves his hand. “Besides, adventure doesn’t come without a little danger.”

“No, seriously.” Legend hastens to catch up with the two. “You don’t understand. There’s-”

One second he’s jogging towards the other two heroes, the next he’s on the ground, sliding towards the cliff. He finds no purchase in the grass, and his fingers slide through any greenery he grasps as he plunges over the edge. He closes his eyes, barely hearing distant shouting and the drumming of rain on rock and for a moment, he’s suspended in nothing.

Then, he lands. Something snaps and tearing pain in his leg tells him that the tree branch he’s just landed on isn’t the only thing broken. He thuds onto grass. His eyes are still squinted shut but he hears a strange whirring sound and he isn’t sure if it’s his ears rushing with adrenaline or something else but the rancid scent of dark magic is pungent now, and he tries to ignore the stench.

He stumbles to his feet, stupidly, and crumples to the ground with a pained gasp when his right leg screams at him, giving out. His vision blurs, turning purplish and blotchy, and suddenly, the dark sulfur is all there is, and it tickles his skin with sinister familiarity. His leg throbs with a dull heat under the stabbing pain that tears across his shin. The darkness swims up to catch him, and he sinks into it with something akin to relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please pretend Legend's bag has a buckle and not whatever it is that it looks like in Jojo's drawings. A clasp, maybe? A button? Hard to tell.


	2. Chapter 2

Waves crash against the shore in the distance. The ocean pulsates with every breath, a rhythm that Legend is familiar with. A rhythm that he sinks into. 

_In..._ Two people are talking near him in lowered voices. He can’t make out what they’re saying. _Out..._ His leg throbs in time with the ocean’s heartbeat. _In..._ He’s lying in thick grass. _Out..._ The sun is warm against his skin and bright against his eyelids. _In..._ Bracing himself, Legend opens his eyes, scanning his surroundings. A few seconds are spent squinting against the light. He’s in a forest of short, knobby fruit trees and palms. His leg is splinted and wrapped carefully in a fabric that looks suspiciously like one of Hyrule’s spare shirts. Wild and Hyrule sit on a moss-coated rock a few feet away, talking. Hyrule sneezes. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Wild asks.

“It’s just a cold,” Hyrule says. “I usually get all sniffly in the rain. I’ll be fine.”

Legend pushes himself upright, blinking blearily.

“Oh, hey!” Hyrule says, grinning at him. “Legend’s up!”

“Where the fuck am I?” Legend asks. 

“We have no idea,” Wild says.

“There _is_ a town nearby, though” adds Hyrule. “We haven’t had a chance to explore it yet but it looked kinda empty.”

“I’ll go check it out now,” Wild says.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Legend warns, but Wild has already stood and started off into the trees. 

“It’s probably empty for a reason!” Legend calls.

“Okay!” Wild’s distant voice replies.

Legend sighs, running a hand down his face. 

“He’ll be fine.” Hyrule smiles at him.

“I only came along to make sure you idiots don’t get yourselves killed.” Legend sighs. “Why do I even try?”

“Because you care.” 

Legend flinches. “No, I don’t.” 

Hyrule sneezes, then grins at him, sniffling. “Sure.”

“How did we even get here?” Legend asks, squinting at the surrounding trees. 

“There was a portal at the bottom of that cliff,” Hyrule says. “Wild carried me down on his paraglider after you fell, and we saw the portal and figured you must have fallen through. We were right. It spat us out somewhere around here. We used all our potions on your leg but we didn’t have that many so it’s still fractured and probably still hurts like heck. Wait a minute!” Hyrule stands and walks over to Legend, hands beginning to glow. “I completely forgot I can fix it the rest of the way!”

“No.” Legend holds up his hands. “Oh, no, you don’t.” 

Hyrule stops. “What do you mean?”

“You’re sick.” When Hyrule starts to protest, Legend holds up a finger. “Let me finish. You _are_ sick, don’t give me that ‘it’s just a cold’ bullshit. If you overexert yourself, you _will_ get worse. Not to mention, you’re short a night of sleep. I will be _fine_. Better to have me with a broken leg than you unconscious and ill. How many magic potions do you have?”

“Uh…” Hyrule checks his bag, his face twisting into a frown. “One.”

“Something else might come up,” Legend says. “Save it. I’ll be fine.”

“But it’s got to hurt,” Hyrule argues. “I won’t pass out. Let me heal it, please.”

“No,” Legend says, “and that’s the end of it.”

Hyrule scowls. 

“Here, come sit next to me.” Legend pats the grass at his side, half-grinning at the younger hero. 

Hyrule trudges over and plonks himself to the ground next to Legend, and for a moment, there’s nothing more than silence and chirruping birds. Legend sighs. The morning could have been peaceful if it hadn’t been for-

“Hey!” Legend whirls around to see Wild standing behind them, grinning broadly.

“Fuck-!” Hyrule flinches, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword.

“I’m sorry,” Wild says. “I didn’t mean to scare you. In regards to your leg, however, I have good news.” Wild says. He crouches down on Legend’s right, smiling excitedly. His teeth glint in the forest light. “There is a family in town who has agreed to let us take shelter there. They also told me there is a shop in town that has red potions.”

“See?” Legend shoots Hyrule a pointed look. “No need for you to pass out. I’ll be fine.”

Hyrule rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, _I_ told _you_ Wild would be _just fine_ , didn’t I?” He slings an arm around Wild, pulling him in close. Wild flinches, hissing. 

“Wild?” Legend raises an eyebrow.

“Are you okay?” Hyrule give him a searching look.

Wild smiles. Something about it seems off, almost as though it isn’t entirely… _Wild._

“It is nothing,” he says. 

Legend barks out a laugh. “Yeah, right. That’s the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. What’s wrong?”

“It is nothing!” Wild stands suddenly, stepping back. “Really.” The strange smile never leaves his face, but his eyes burn with an intense energy.

“Wild, just let me-” Hyrule goes to stand up.

“Okay.” Legend interrupts him, staring into Wild’s eyes. “But whatever injury you’re hiding gets checked over as soon as we get our hands on some health potions.”

“It’s a deal.” Wild grabs Legend’s sword and shield from where they lean against a rock. “We had to take these off you because it looked very uncomfortable,” he explains. 

Legend takes them with a nod, buckling the straps around his middle. When he’s done, Hyrule bends down, snaking his left arm under Legend’s arms and pulling him to his feet. Legend leans into his grip, slinging his arm across Hyrule’s shoulders. Wild smiles back at them.

“Are we ready to go?” he asks.

“Lead the way,” Legend says. 

They set off into the trees. It’s a beautiful day, even if Legend has a great deal of trouble enjoying it, what with the struggle it is to walk. The sun, though bright, is cooled to a comfortable warmth by the canopy of leaves rustling above their heads. The trees are like a crowd of clay soldiers in an old king’s grave, their gnarled, grinning faces staring back at the trio from the shadows. The three make their slow way through the thick trees, Legend biting his lip as he leans heavily on Hyrule. The other hero grunts, shifting Legend higher in his grip. Wild looks over his shoulder a few paces ahead, stopping to wait for them to catch up.

Legend struggles to pick up his foot, his right leg throbbing uncomfortably. Through the rushing in his ears, he absently realizes that the woods are near-silent, despite the fact that there was supposed to be a town nearby. He squints. _Surely there are birds,_ he thinks. _I swear I heard one calling from the trees just before Wild arrived…_

His fingers grab at Hyrule’s tunic, sweat running down his face as he hobbles along. _That isn’t important right now._ He still strains his ears, though, searching for the sounds of the wildlife he’s sure he heard only moments before. 

“Almost there. Keep going,” Wild says. Legend looks up at him. He’s standing in the undergrowth, still smiling at them. 

“Maybe-” Hyrule hacks out a ragged cough. “Maybe a little help over here?”

Wild hums. “We are close. You can make it.” He walks off into the woods. 

“Wild,” Legend grunts, scowling. “Hyrule’s sick. You can afford to give us a hand. It won’t kill you.”

Wild doesn’t respond, continuing to pick his way through the bushes. His tread seems near-silent to Legend’s ringing ears, his feet leaving the undergrowth undisturbed.

Legend growls, picking up the pace. Hyrule adjusts his grip again. His neck is sweaty against Legend’s forearm.

“Wild-” he begins, but he doesn’t finish his reprimand. Wild has stopped, and is standing still, his posture straighter than Legend has ever seen it.

“What’s wrong?” Hyrule asks.

Wild holds up a hand, shushing them and tilting his head towards the sky, seeming to sniff the air. His ears twitch. _Is he listening for something?_ Legend listens to the forest. The leaves rustle in the wind. He can hear Hyrule breathing next to him. Something smells like rotting flesh… _maybe I’m imagining that one_ . There’s nothing else there, and Legend’s brow scrunches as he wonders what Wild is listening for until - _oh_. 

Legend leans into Hyrule’s side. “Do you hear someone yelling?” he whispers. 

Hyrule pauses, his ear twitching. After a moment he shakes his head. 

“Wait for it,” Legend murmurs. “It’s stopped.”

The three stand still and silent in the wood, listening to the rustling of tree leaves in the wind.

Wild still hasn’t so much as twitched when Legend hears the voice again, and this time Hyrule must hear it too, as he tenses against Legend’s side. Wild unslings his bow from his back and pulls out an arrow. 

“Stay here,” Wild orders. 

“Where are you going?” Hyrule asks, but Wild doesn’t respond, walking off into the trees. Legend wasn’t imagining it earlier; his feet don’t make a sound.

“We should follow him,” Legend says.

“He told us to stay here.” 

“Seriously?” Legend gives Hyrule an incredulous look as he eases himself to the ground. “You’re going to listen to him? He’s just going to get himself killed.”

“I trust him,” Hyrule frowns, sitting down next to him. “He knows his limits.”

Legend scoffs. “Sure.”

They sit for a minute. Legend’s fingers are tapping against the ground. He stares off into the trees, ears straining for any sound. Hyrule has just placed his hand over Legend’s own to calm his nervous drumming when he hears it, faint and echoing.

“ _-ule!_ ” 

He stills. 

“Did you hear that?” Legend asks.

“No.” Hyrule looks at him. “What?”

“Listen.”

The wind rustling through the trees is all there is for a long while, and Hyrule opens his mouth to speak. 

“ _Legend! Help!_ ”

“That-” Hyrule gasps. “Wild!”

“Come on, help me up!” Legend says. “I told you letting him go alone was a bad idea. It’s too dangerous.”

Hyrule grunts, lifting the two of them off the ground. Legend unsheathes his sword.

Adrenaline works wonders, and the two move rapidly through the undergrowth, following the weak calling of Wild’s voice. Their limping pace is awkward and stumbling but they manage, narrowly avoiding tripping over roots growing across their paths. Then, Legend’s foot catches on a vine, boot tangling in the thorny stem. He crashes to the ground, landing hard on his side, and he grunts as his leg is jostled. Hyrule falls beside him, catching himself on his hands and knees. Legend gasps at the cool rock beneath him as he pushes himself up - carefully fitted stones, laid together to make a road. 

Where the trees end, a village begins. The houses are modest, made of simple mud brick with open windows and curtained doors. The crashing of the ocean is louder here, a dull roaring amid the silence of the town. The streets are empty. Unlit candles sit in the windowsills, their wicks snowcapped with dust. 

Hyrule pushes himself to his feet, pulling Legend along with him.

“It’s completely empty…” Hyrule whispers.

Legend laughs sharply. “No kidding. Didn’t Wild say something about a family and a market?”

“Yeah,” Hyrule says. “Huh. Maybe it’s further into town?”

Legend is reluctant to agree.

As the two venture down the cobbled street into the town, the silence presses in. A rat skitters past, molding bread clamped in its mouth, and darts into the shadows inside a doorway. The floor inside is covered in dust, windows gaping and empty, the façade a face twisted into an empty scream, the doorway tall and void in the bricks. Legend shudders and continues. 

They reach a sort of town square. The houses stop, the cobbled road paving a large circle, in the center of which lies a well. They hobble over to it, peering down into the darkness. Legend frowns. Amid the mossy scent of standing water, there’s a faint whiff of iron. It’s too dark to see anything, though.

“Hey!” a voice rasps. Legend and Hyrule turn around as Wild stumbles out from between two houses, clutching at his stomach. It’s ripped raw and trickling blood, the skin surrounding the wound stained an ugly, uneven purple. A similar burn mars his side. 

“Wild!” Hyrule gasps. Legend unwinds his arm from around the traveler, leaning against the side of the well, and Hyrule rushes forward to support Wild. 

“Guys,” Wild coughs. “We need to leave. Now. Come-” he takes a deep breath. “Come on!” He pushes himself off of Hyrule, stumbling across the square. 

“Wait-” Hyrule wraps his arm back around Legend. “Wild, wait!”

Wild doesn’t stop, continuing to make his way towards the opposite street. 

Then, an arrow sprouts from his shoulder, blood spattering across his cloak. He trips on a cobblestone and thuds to the ground with a yelp, grabbing at his shoulder and curling in on himself with eyes squinted shut. 

Legend and Hyrule whirl around. Behind them stands Wild, bow in hand, face twisted in rage like neither had seen in a long while.

“There you are, you filthy, imposturous swine!” He looks over at Legend and Hyrule, and his disposition melts into a sunny grin. “Legend! Hyrule! You’re alright!” He runs over to them. 

“W- Wild?” Hyrule stammers, looking back and forth between the two Hylian Champions. 

“Oh, no.” Legend groans. “Let me guess: evil twin?”

The second Wild to arrive nods and draws his sword, walking over to the other. 

“This creature showed up as I was exploring town.” He points the blade towards the throat of the other Wild. “He approached me under the guise of Twilight’s identity and embraced me. Inconsistencies in his behavior led me to question him, at which he transformed into his true form, a terrible monster. We fought and found ourselves to be evenly matched.”

Hyrule pulls the two of them over to stand above the first Wild’s form. He’s clutching his shoulder, jaw clenched and shaking. As the two of them enter his field of view, he makes eye contact with Legend.

“Don’t-” His voice is weak. “Don’t listen to him.”

The second Wild kicks him in the ribs, and he gasps, curling in tighter on himself. 

“The horrid creature uses dirty tactics to fight its battles.” Wild curls his lip. “Don’t let its piteous performance sway you.

“Anyway, as we were fighting, the creature suddenly stopped, sniffing the air. After a second, he vanished into shards of shadow. I could only assume he had gone after you two, so I began calling for you to find and warn you. It’s a good thing I showed up when I did.”

The Wild on the floor groans. “You… you asshole!”

Hyrule edges slightly away from the second Wild, staring into his eyes as though looking for something there. “Why hasn’t he gotten and attacked us while we’ve just been talking, then?”

“Its shoulder is grievously wounded. It is still attempting to sway you to its side, and will slaughter you when your backs are turned. Let’s kill it quickly and leave. There may be more of its kind.”

The standing Wild raises his sword and brings it down with swift decisiveness. It is halted with a _clang_ only inches away from the throat of the first Wild, caught on the hilt of the Tempered Blade. 

Legend has slid to the ground to stop the sword, weapon raised above his head and face hardened into a distrustful glare. 

“If you were calling for us to warn us, why did you also call for help?” Legend hisses. “Your story is full of holes, imposter. Also, a word of advice: if you’re trying to pass for an eighteen-year-old forest gremlin, maybe _don’t_ talk like someone who reads through the dictionary every year.” Now that he’s closer to the other Wild, the scent of rancid meat is even stronger. He wrinkles his nose. “Ugh! You smell like a week-old octorok corpse. If you’re gonna use dark magic, at least be subtle about it. That’s _rancid_ , dude.”

Wild pauses. “ _Week-old octo-_ no, I’m not even going to ask.” Then, he grins that unnerving grin once more, and says, “As for your other observations… those were a slight oversight on my part,” he says, shadows seeping from the dirt to swirl around his figure. “How unfortunate.” 

Legend has his bow out before he’s done speaking, scooching away. He nocks an arrow as Wild’s face elongates, jaw hinging open in a silent scream, tendons and skin stretching and snapping. His skin crackles and crystalizes, matted black fur worming up from beneath the surface, poking through the surface. His clothes disappear into wisps of smoke to reveal a thick, tangled mass of fur and shadows swirling and morphing into something entirely inhuman. His skull softens, molding and folding in on itself; his arms and legs sink backwards into his body, changing and shifting with a great cacophony of _snap_ s and _crack_ s until what stands before them is a great six-legged fox, covered in crackling dark lightning and knotted fur. A gaping cut stretches across its right shoulder, bleeding smoky-black blood. Its eyes glow with a sharp yellow light, and when it opens its mouth, the saliva that drips from its knife-sharp fangs lands on a flower growing through the crack between two stones. The flower shrivels, turning black and bruised. 

_That’s where Wild must have gotten those burns. That_ bastard _!_

The fox raises its head to the sky, releasing a terrible yowl. The cry echoes on the wind, and Legend scowls.

“You’re on melee,” Legend growls. “I’ll keep him busy.”

Hyrule nods, pulling out his sword and shield.

The fox-like creature lunges before he can make a move, darkened teeth bared in a gruesome snarl. It flies towards Hyrule's midsection, slobber flying from its mouth. He throws himself to the side to avoid the corrosive spit. Tucking into a roll to land, pushes himself to his feet and sinks his sword into the creature's side. The fox yowls, twisting around, jaws spread, and rears up, splaying its needle-sharp claws in the air above Hyrule's head. Hyrule yanks his sword out of the beast's side and throws up his shield. Before it can sink its claws into the metal, Legend lets his arrow fly. It lands between the fox's eyes. The creature falls to the ground, stumbling back with a strangled yelp. Hyrule darts forward, shield raised. The beast, now finding itself little more than a cornered animal, backs away. Hyrule lunges. The fox jumps to the side. He whirls around as it comes in close again, shield-bashing it in the head. It stumbles back, and Hyrule raises his hand, muttering something under his breath. Bolts of fire spring from his palm, writhing and crackling and tearing across the creature’s side. It yelps, stumbling backwards as its fur burns and smolders. As Hyrule rushes forwards, sword raised, it twists sideways, lashing its tail into Hyrule’s legs. He crashes to the ground, and before Legend can react, it sinks its fangs into Hyrule's side. Legend hisses as Hyrule lets out a strangled scream. He lets loose the arrow he has nocked. It lands in the creature's flank, blood seeping into its tangled fur. Legend nocks another, and when this one hits the beast's neck, it drops Hyrule to the ground where he lands with a _thud_. It turns to face Legend, snarling. Legend snarls back, letting a third arrow fly. This one lands in the beast's eye, and its responding scream is weak and animalistic. Hyrule is behind it as it falls to the ground to sink the Magical Sword through its heart.

Hyrule sheaths his sword as the beast goes limp, bending to pick up his shield from where it fell and slinging it across his back.

“Hyrule!" Legend calls. “Are you okay?"

The kid gives him a thumbs up making his half-stumbled, half-jogged way over to Wild's crumpled form. He falls to his knees beside the champion, whose breaths are steady but rattle his form like he’s nothing more than a leaf in the wind.

Legend makes his way over, pulling himself carefully across the cobblestones, to see Hyrule rub his hands together as they begin to glow a soft pink.

“Woah, woah, wait!" Legend catches his hands in his own. “Does he really need that? Don't you, too?"

“Don't give me that," Hyrule says, glaring at him. His eyes are cold, and Legend flinches at the coldness in his expression. “He needs it more than I do. We can patch me up with bandages and I'll be fine eventually. For him, this isn't something a simple red potion can fix. The big bone in his shoulder blade thingy place-"

“His scapula?"

“Yeah, that. It's definitely broken - probably shattered - from that arrow. Without magic, that'll never heal right on its own. He'd be crippled for life, and this is his dominant arm."

Legend grunts. “Don't overexert yourself."

“Yeah, yeah." Hyrule waves his hand at him, then places it against Wild's shoulder. He moans a bit, but is otherwise silent. Hyrule closes his eyes, his brow scrunched up.

“Okay," he says, the glow fading. “So… the scapy-la thing is broken enough that the best course of action is probably… to push the arrow the rest of the way through, so that-"

“So the head doesn't get stuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I already know this shit. Just tell me what you need me to do."

Hyrule looks over at him, eyes wide. “I was talking to myself. Calm down." He frowns down at his friend. Wild's eyes are closed. Legend can't tell whether he's unconscious or just in pain.

“I need you to hold him up so that I can push the arrow through," Hyrule says after a moment. “Then I can put all the little bits back together and we can get the two of us bandaged up, and we should be good to go. Do you have some bandages on you?"

Legend puts his hand on his belt and grabs for his bag. There's nothing there.

_Wait..._

“Ah, fuck!" Legend holds his head in his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! I left my bag at camp!"

“What do you mean? It’s right there.” Hyrule nods to the bag clipped to Legend’s belt.

“No, the other one,” Legend grumbles. “The one that got the buckle ripped off it after Wild took us on that detour last week.”

“Oh-” Hyrule hacks out a harsh string of coughs. “It's fine. We can tear up some fabric. I've got some stuff we can use. Plus, if we can get Wild lucid enough, I'm sure he's got plenty of extra clothes somewhere in his bag."

“You're probably right." Legend rubs his eyes, sighing. “Alright, so you wanted me to hold him up?" 

Legend shuffles behind Wild, grasping him under his left shoulder and spine and heaving him upwards until he leans across Legend's arms in an almost-seated position.

“Yeah, that's good. Thanks." Hyrule's hands begin to glow again as he starts up his healing magic. He grasps the arrow shaft. “Hold him steady."

Legend tightens his grip, nodding, and Hyrule begins to push the arrow through. He starts carefully, and Wild's form jolts in Legend's arms. Hyrule grits his teeth, then pushes it the rest of the way through all at once. Wild heaves, before falling still. Hyrule reaches around to snap off the arrowhead, holding the shaft steady with his spare hand, grimacing. Once the head is off, the shaft comes out cleanly. Legend shudders at the torn pieces of muscle and tiny shards of bone that cling to the head that falls to the ground at his knees, slick with blood. Hyrule's hands are on the hole in a second, the pink glow straining brighter and brighter until Hyrule's face is pulled tight in concentration, sweat dripping down his forehead. Legend watches as the arrow wound knits shut under the light of Hyrule's magic. The awkward angle of Wild's arm rights itself, skin and muscle and bone threading back together to cover the hole through his shoulder. The joint has been completely reassembled, muscle and shredded blood vessels still exposed, when the light fades by a few degrees. Legend looks up to see Hyrule's face concerningly pale, his teeth gritted. His skin is covered in a sweaty sheen, his eyes squinted shut.

“Hey, hey," Legend says. “Hyrule, that's enough."

Hyrule's eyes fly open and he falls backwards onto his butt, eyes wide and half-focused. “...What?"

“That's enough. Wild's gonna be okay, you can stop now."

“But..." Hyrule pushes himself back to his knees. “...I didn't finish..."

“It's fine." Legend shuffles around Wild's now-definitely-unconscious form to wrap the shivering Hyrule in a tight hug. “You fixed the bone and the joint, didn't you?"

After a moment, Hyrule gives a shaky nod.

“Great. He can heal the rest on his own. You need to stop so you don't get any sicker. You've got one magic potion left, right?"

Hyrule furrows his brow. “I... think so..."

“Good." Legend pulls away. “You should really take one-"

Hyrule begins to cough, harsh and wheezing, and after a second, Legend places his hand on Hyrule's trembling back, rubbing hesitant circles until the other hero stops hacking his lungs out with a shuddering intake of breath.

“You okay?" Legend says.

“I..." Hyrule breathes deeply. “Fine. A… magic? Pro’lly a..." He fumbles with the buckle on his bag, pulling open the flap. He digs around for a while before he finds what he's looking for: one of the many magic potions Legend has stuffed into Hyrule's bag because he knows how much magic Hyrule will use without regard to his own health. Hyrule struggles to pop the cork out with his trembling fingers, and after a moment, Legend grunts, snatching the bottle out of his hands.

“Let me do it." Legend pries the cork out, then holds the bottle up to Hyrule's lips, ignoring when the kid tries to push him away. Hyrule turns his head to the side.

“I… do it myself." He makes a grab for the bottle but misses Legend's hands by a good few inches.

“Oh, yeah?" Legend says. “Sure you can. Here, drink. Come on. We don't have forever."

Hyrule gives in with a pout, placing his lips against the cool glass and drinking the bitter liquid inside. He winces as it goes down, finishing the bottle with a gag and wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

“Jeez..." Hyrule wipes his hands, still soaked in Wild's blood, against his pants. He blinks a few times, his eyes refocusing. “What do they put in that stuff?”

Legend laughs, his voice hoarse. “Sometimes I feel like health potions are more likely to kill me than whatever injury I'm trying to heal."

Hyrule chuckles, his eyes warm as he looks back at the other hero, and Legend finds himself grinning.

“It’s good to have you back, kid."

Hyrule lunges forwards, wrapping his arms around Legend and knocking the air out of him. Legend grunts, squinting his eyes shut. He reaches behind him, trying to pry open Hyrule’s grip. The other hero’s fingers are tight, and Legend can’t quite seem to get them to open… 

“It's nice to see you smile," Hyrule murmurs into Legend's tunic. “You never smile.” 

Legend stops trying to pry the younger hero off him in favor of wrapping his arms around him.

They're interrupted by coughing from behind them, weak and wheezing. Hyrule is upright in an instant, on his feet and sliding to the ground next to Wild.

“Wild!" Hyrule grabs Wild's hand. “Are you okay?"

“What-" Wild sits up, wincing and grabbing at the magic burn in his torso. “What happened?"

“Do you remember that terrible shapeshifting fox thing?" Hyrule asks.

Wild frowns, closing his eyes.

“You ran into a creepy abandoned village all alone like an idiot. We had to come bail you out." Legend scowls at him.

“Ah, yeah..." Wild scratches the back of his neck, half-grinning. “I think I remember that."

“Maybe think things through next time," Legend growls. “You put all of us in danger. Hyrule wore himself out healing your shattered shoulder. If he gets even sicker because of this-"

“Hey, hey," Hyrule says. “Legend, it's fine. Don't be so hard on him. I would have run off, same as him."

“It was stupid." Legend curls his lip, his eye twitching. “Don't do stuff like that. It's idiotic, and reckless, and dangerous."

“Legend," Hyrule begins, “I know it was stupid, but you shouldn't-"

“I'm sorry." Wild is staring at the cobblestone beneath his crossed legs, playing with the hem of his tunic. “I'm sorry I put you two in danger. That was never my intention. I wanted to find help for your leg, Legend."

Hyrule elbows him and Legend says, “Uh... It's okay. Just... don't do something like that again."

Wild smiles back at him, and Legend isn't sure what he's feeling anymore, his stomach a roiling mess.

“Hey-” Hyrule saves Legend from having to respond. “I know that thing-" Hyrule's eyes widen, and his mouth hangs open.

“Hyrule?" Legend grabs his wrist, staring into his eyes. “Are you okay?"

He nods his head, squishing his head backwards. Then, he rears back, and sneezes into his elbow, hair floofing every which way. He takes a deep breath, then sneezes again, and again, and again. “Wooh!” He rubs his eyes. “Anyway. I know that thing was a monster ‘n all,” he continues, “but it might not have been lying about it not being the only one of its kind around… that howl might have attracted their attention. We should probably leave.”

“-Uhh- actually? They might have already found us. Does anyone recognize her, or do you think she lives here?" Wild stumbles to his feet, staring at something over Legend's shoulder. He's almost afraid to look.

Behind him stands a girl. Her hair is long, red, her sharply-cut bangs framing her face. Her periwinkle dress is patterned with dark blue triangles. A necklace, the gemstone a fiery strawberry, is clasped around her neck. There's a velvety red hibiscus tucked behind her ear.

“That's no civilian," Legend forces out. “Let's go. If we have to fight it we can, but we're out of potions."

Hyrule nods, pushing himself to his feet. 

He holds out his hand and Legend grabs it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. 

“You need a hand?” Hyrule offers his other hand to Wild, who shakes his head.

“Nah, I’m good.” Wild falls forward onto his hands and knees, then pushes himself onto two unsteady feet. “Thanks, though. Also, guys? That girl is right behind you.”

“What?” Legend looks over his shoulder to see the Not-Marin standing directly behind him. They make eye contact, and he gasps. Her eyes are the exact same carmelly color that he remembers, glimmering like deep amber in the sunlight. 

“We’re leaving.” He begins to limp away. Hyrule follows his lead, and Wild turns after a moment staring at her.

“Wait!” She calls. “Link!” 

Legend stops, gritting his teeth. “What do you want, _monster_?”

“Are you just going to leave me behind again?” she asks. Legend forces himself to stare at the ground. “Or are you going to kill me, like last time?” Her breath is warm against his ear. “Destroy everything I’ve built for myself here?”

Legend’s hand tightens around his weapon. 

“Why, Link?” she whispers. “Why did you do that to us?”

“ _You’re not real!_ ” Legend whirls around, slashing wildly towards her with his sword. “ _You never were! Why won’t you just leave me alone?_ ”

She stumbles back with a gasp, clutching at her midsection as the pink ribbon around her waist is painted blotchy and red. She’s crying now. Legend isn’t. He _isn’t_.

“I-” she gasps. “I never should have trusted you. I never should have been so _stupid_ -”

Legend screams, lunging forward and thrusting his sword through her, through _its_ stomach. Blood runs in rivulets along his fiery orange blade, and his breath catches in his throat as she looks at him one last time with those sunlit caramel eyes, only half-focused on his face. 

“You irredeemable monster,” she whispers. “I wish I never met you.”

Legend _isn’t_ crying as he pulls the blade from her midsection, as her body falls to the ground and slowly fades into the form of a dark fox. Legend _isn’t_ crying as he hobbles back over to the other two heroes, who stand behind him, eyes wide. And he certainly isn’t crying as he wraps his arm over Hyrule’s shoulders and begins to hobble away from the monster’s limp, bloody form.

“We’re leaving town. They probably watch for travelers here.”

No one contests him.

The wind picks up, howling between the empty buildings and blowing cold, biting breath across the back of Legend’s neck. Under his right arm, Hyrule’s shoulders are shaking. When Legend looks over, the kid is staring at the ground, his teeth gritted into a grimace. Eyes blurring, Legend follows his gaze to the cobblestones, watching them pass, watching them end, watching the remaining stone be overtaken by fallen leaves and tangled vines and thick, fluffy moss, layered across soft, wet dirt. His left foot hits the ground rhythmically; Hyrule’s worn boots stumble along beside him. Legend’s head feels light and dizzy, and a distant, internal voice asks if he should be looking where he’s going. He ignores it. His free hand clutches at his bag, tying knot after knot into the thread with the buckle at the top. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some medical notes: don’t take these too seriously, as I only did some quick online research, but according to my findings (*puts on glasses*) an arrow in your shoulder is a very dangerous thing. Not only is there an artery there, but apparently, certain bow or arrow types can break bone. There is only a very small part of your shoulder where it would not be potentially permanently damaging to get hit, especially without professional medical attention. I’m assuming these guys are fighting with some pretty heavy-duty arrows.  
> I just realized that the fox-monsters I made are basically Nosk from Hollow Knight… hm. T’was not my intention.  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

The ocean spreads before them like a great swathe of canvas, coated thickly with long, dark strokes and glimmering dabs of acrylic paint. The sun is bright in the bleached-denim sky, the crests of waves reflecting its light like a trail of glinting shards from a broken mirror. The three reflexively shield their eyes as they emerge from the dappled shadows of the trees and onto the narrow, rocky shoreline.

Legend’s bag string is knotted all the way down, a gnarled mess of string tied around string. He fiddles with it, looping it around his pointer finger and listening to the breath of the ocean, until Wild shouts, breaking him out of his reverie. 

“Hey, look! A boat!”

Indeed, a few yards away sits a boat, water lapping around its sides. It clearly hasn’t moved in a while: its keel is sunk deep into the rocky soil. A haphazard knot ties it to a stooped mangrove at the sea’s edge, rope faded and slack and mottled in faint brushes of olive-hued algae, thread-fine and droopy.

Wild jogs down the shoreline, boots spraying sand across the dark knives of rocks that poke through the shore. Legend sighs, and he and Hyrule hobble after him.

Two oars sit inside the boat on one of the benches, scratched and old and water stained but blessedly whole. A sail is neatly folded in the bottom but its not-quite-white-anymore canvas is nothing more than stray threads in places. A short fragment of the mast still stands, tall, proud, covered in splinters, and leaning twenty degrees too far to the right. Wild stands beside the worn vessel, staring at it, eyes narrowed. 

“We shouldn’t take this to sea,” Legend says, and Wild turns, staring at him with a glint in his eyes and a half-grin tickling at the corners of his lips.

“Why ever not?” he asks, and Legend groans. 

“Hylia, help me,” he mutters. Prayer is not a strategy that has worked for him in the past, but Sky seems to think it foolproof, and at this point, Legend is too tired not to give it a chance. 

“Taking that boat out is a terrible idea. _You-_ ” he thrusts his finger at Hyrule- “can’t swim, _you-_ ” he flails his hand at Wild, who flinches- “barely can, and I’ve had enough of sailing to last me until Warriors admits his scarf looks stupid.”

“Actually, I’m only _kind of_ a bad swimmer,” Wild objects, tilting his head to the side. The glint in his eyes hasn’t disappeared. “I _look_ like I’m barely competent because I don’t tend to willingly submerge my head and am thus reduced to doggy-paddling.”

“Okay, wait, you can swim, and you _choose_ to _doggy-paddle_?” Hyrule’s eyes are wide, as though he has been personally offended. “Why would anyone ever do that?”

Wild stares at the ground, scuffing the tip of his boot through the sand, and flaps his hand in the air. “Eh, you know, residual anxiety from the Shrine of Resurrection or something. I try to avoid going under, if I can.”

“Oh.” Hyrule falls silent. 

Legend watches the waves splash against the shore, twisting the string around his finger. _One loop, two loops, three loops_. He clears his throat.

“Ah, anyway. Let me rephrase my original statement: We _aren’t_ taking this to sea.”

If Legend had gotten his way, that would have been that. However, as he had been speaking, Hyrule's eyes had grown progressively wider and wider. He's staring at something over Legend's shoulder. Hyrule nudges Wild, who follows Hyrule's gaze to the tree line. Legend does the same, staring into the shadows between trees. For a moment he sees nothing, and he’s about to tell Hyrule this much when a diminutive red-and-white figure emerges from the forest a good ways away.

“...Link?" She calls, her voice soft, and Legend groans. _Not another one!_

Legend looks behind him to see whose internal demon this is. Hyrule looks concerned, nothing more. Wild's eyes, however, are wide and frozen and hold none of the glint from earlier. Legend elbows Wild and he looks at him. His face doesn't change; he looks shell-shocked. At least Legend knows he isn't in a memory.

Wild looks back at the figure by the trees. She's short, for sure, appearing to be a red-hued Zora, though not one like any Zora Legend's seen. Her white-scaled face is soft and heart shaped, and her silver jewelry glitters in the sun. 

_Is that…_ Legend squints. _Mipha?_

“Link!" She breaks into a sprint, suddenly, and Legend draws his sword. Wild grabs his arm, though, and pulls him backward.

“Help me get the boat into the water," he says, reaching up to claw at the knot in the tree.

“What-? No!" Legend hisses. “What do you mean? We’ve got to face her, idiot! There's no way we'll make it if we take that thing to sea!"

“Are you kidding me?" The glint is back in Wild's eyes, but it's desperate and terrified and pleading, no longer full of playful petulance. “Please, Legend. Please, don't make me-" he falls silent as the rope drops to the ground. Situating himself behind the boat, he starts to push, heaving at the boat.

“Come on, Legend. Let's just go," Hyrule mutters into his ear. “It'll be a lot of fun."

“No, no it won't!" Legend says. “Here, at least we know what to expect! The sea will swallow us whole! Or is Wild too weak to handle his past? I certainly handled mine just fine."

Hyrule glares at him. “Shh!" He glances at Wild. His face shows no reaction. He gives one last heaving push, and the boat splashes into the water. The Zora girl is only a few yards away now.

“Link, please don't go!" She calls. “Please don't leave me alone again!"

“Get in!" Wild says, gripping the edge of the boat, the ocean splashing around his ankles. “Please, Legend. Please get in."

“No! You can face her. You can't keep running from yourself!"

“Legend, please." He's crying, Legend realizes. He's crying. Those are tears, dripping down his cheeks. Legend has never seen Wild cry like this before. “Please. I could never kill her. Please just get in."

“The Domain always felt so empty without you, after you stopped coming back," the Zora girl says. She's arrived. She walks up to Wild, her eyes soft. “Please don't leave." Wild looks away, swallowing hard. His tears splitter into the sea at his feet, drawing rings in the water.

Legend grits his teeth. He’s only just started to draw his sword, intending to solve this disaster with a clean slice to the throat, when Hyrule tenses beside him, adjusting his grip around Legend’s waist.

“Alright," he mutters.

“Alright wha-AH!" Legend is cut off as Hyrule, arms shaking, lifts him off the ground and stumbles over to the boat. He dumps Legend onto the bench, then hops in after him. Wild starts running, giving the boat a tremendous shove and diving into the back.

The Zora girl is crying now, too, as the boat floats into deeper water. She starts wading out as Hyrule and Wild each grab and oar. Legend is too shocked to move, hand still grasping the hilt of his sword.

“Please, just talk to me! You never say anything anymore. I miss hearing your voice."

Wild's eyes are narrowed, his chest heaving as he sinks the oar into the waves and heaves the boat forward. Hyrule struggles to keep up as they skip over the top of breakers and scrape and bounce across rocks and coral. Legend scowls at them but can’t get any words out through his tightly-clamped jaw. He doesn’t dare open his mouth, not when his stomach is sloshing up his throat, when everything is so much, too much, when his mouth is swimming in sharp, bitter saliva. He grips the side of the boat, squinting and crumpling in on himself, as hot pressure pounds behind his eyes with every swirl and bounce. The rushing in his ears takes over, ringing and ringing and ringing until the only sound is the waves crashing against the hull, splashing and echoing and rushing, the spray like little raindrops against his face. Legend clamps his hands over his ears and pulls his legs to his chest, and he does what he always does when things get this bad, snatching the anxiety and panic and pain and memories out of his mind as one catches snowflakes on their tongue, and crushes them, squishing them and trapping them and cramming them away in some deep, dark corner until he's breathing and walking and talking without gasping for breath as though he is drowning, without every inch of his body trembling like he's still reeling from phantom aftershocks, or real aftershocks, or the blinding light itself. Until he's the Hero of Legend again, someone who can handle his emotions. Someone who doesn't run from his problems.

He isn’t sure how long it is before the roaring in his ears starts to fade. The world is swathed in heavy darkness; a lantern flickers distantly nearby. The boat is bobbing gently up and down on the waves. Someone is rubbing circles on his back, their hand a warm pressure against the trembling cold. He can hear their voice, distant and muffled, telling him to breathe, and he complies, taking in a great, shuddering breath. Now that his bones aren't vibrating with panic, they feel as though they are sinking, sinking deep into a warm sea of darkness. The lantern is gone; his eyes are closed and the gentle lapping of the waves against the hull is careful and quiet and soothing. 

_In... out... in... out…_ He leans into the hand on his back, sinking into the soft presence beside him, and with a sigh, slips into the inky domain of dreams.

**\----**

Time is a sluggish thing in the boat. Each passing second is creaky and decrepit, and by the time Legend wakes on the first morning at sea, the horizon is blue and clear and infinite in every direction. Heavy-limbed but refreshed, he pushes down the rising anxiety and resigns himself to staring at nothing but rippling blue.

By the time the sun throws shards of light across the water, the rosy light winking across the tops of the waves, lips are chapped and sunburned, throats scratchy, and tongues rife with the scent of salt. For dinner, fresh bandages are served along with apples, nuts, and milk from Wild’s bag. 

Wild and Hyrule make up the vast majority of conversation between the three, chattering like gulls. However, as the trio sinks into monotony, days and nights spent in the same stagnant, salt-baked stupor, they quiet, Wild growing restless and Hyrule ill. His cough worsens as the puncture wounds in his side close, and once he wakes with a fever, Legend declares him sick, speaking for the first time in what could have been days or hours or minutes, to send him back to sleep. 

To Legend, at least, the sound of the water was nice at first, one part anxiety and two parts bliss, but now, each breath and trickle is abrasive, rushing and crackling in Legend’s ears. His tongue is thick; any liquid in his mouth feels more like mud to dry soil than water, quickly absorbed and not nearly enough. He now longs for adequate water more than he longs for his shift to sleep. When the water rations run out, when Wild starts piling hydromelons in the bottom of the boat, Legend leans back against the edge and closes his eyes, listening to the sea and Hyrule’s wheezy breathing and the _thud, thud, thud_ of fruit against wood. 

Legend can limp around on his own now, although it is with more pain and difficulty than he is willing to admit. This is the only thing he is happy about. The strap on his bag is worn thin, half-unraveled from how many times he’s tied and retied it. He longs to play his red ocarina, for little reason beyond the accursed nostalgia he pushes away daily, but is unable to give in, no matter how much he wants to. 

His face has all the sallowness and droopiness that the others’ carry, his facial muscles heavy; still, he sends a corrosive glare across the boat, narrowing his eyes at Wild. The other hero takes no notice, bending over to count the melons in the bottom of the boat. 

Legend presses the palms of his hands against his eyes, where a headache is building, throbbing and pounding and heavy. He sighs, his hands dropping into his lap. Wild has finished counting the melons and has braced his back against the side of the boat, blinking rapidly. He’s swaying where he stands, and Legend frowns.

“Are you okay?”

Wild looks up at him. His eyebrows scrunch together and he blinks hard. His gaze hovers somewhere slightly to the left. Then, his eyes roll back in his head and he collapses, his head hitting the wood with a _thud_. Water sloshes over the sides as the tiny vessel is rocked, melons rolling around. Legend shoots to his feet, yelping when his leg twangs, and stumbles over to Wild’s collapsed form. He falls to his knees beside him, pulling him onto his lap. 

“Wild!” 

Wild blinks his eyes open and sits bolt upright, cracking his skull into Legend’s. Legend grunts, grabbing his head, as Wild falls back onto his elbows. 

“Frick, Wild, are you okay?”

“Yeah…” he mumbles, pushing himself onto the bench next to Hyrule. 

“What the hell was that?” Legend sits down across from him. “What happened to you?”

“I think…” Wild rubs the bridge of his nose. “I fainted…”

“Yeah, no shit.” Legend squints at him. “Have you been giving your water to Hyrule?”

“Maybe…”

Legend groans. “ _Why_ , Wild?”

“He has a fever!” Wild protests. “He’d get dehydrated quicker!”

“Yeah,” Legend says, “but if you’re dehydrated to the point of fainting- Wild, what happens when _none_ of us can fight?”

“There’s nothing out here,” Wild says, gesturing vaguely at the endless horizon. “Why does someone need to be able to fight?”

“Well, if we don’t find _something_ soon, we’re all going to die anyway. If we _do_ find something, one of us needs to be able to function!”

“Your leg’s almost better!” Wild protests. “I’m just trying to make sure Hyrule won’t die before we can even get close to finding anything!”

Legend winces, his stomach churning at Wild’s word choice. “At least _ask_ me about it, instead of going behind my back to almost kill yourself!”

“I’ll be fine!” 

“It’s just…” Legend groans, putting his head in his hands. “Crud, Wild, it’s just been everything. I feel like I’ve been trying to keep us safe, and you’ve been making a mess of everything. You contradict everything I say!”

“I’m not being contradictory! You’re the one who’s contradictory: I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. You never do. _I_ saw a problem, and I took action! I was being proactive!”

“ _Proactive_ ? You were being _reckless._ This- there’s a _pattern_ here. You just _do_. More times than not, your recklessness does nothing but put people in danger!” Legend hisses. “You break things. You lose things. You put people into harm’s way, and then you can’t seem to understand why they’re upset!”

“You hardly take time to consider others, either, _Mr. Hero_ ,” Wild snaps, his nose scrunching. “You always have to be in control of the situation. Maybe if you’d consider others’ opinions once in a while, I’d have brought it up with you first. It’s like you never even think about how someone else might feel about a situation. You always have to be right, don’t you?”

“You want to talk to me about _empathy_? You know nothing about how so much in life feels. You-” his ears are rushing with sound; he isn’t sure if he’s yelling or not. “You don’t take the time to consider others half the time yourself! Not all of us can afford to live life like we’ve got nothing to lose. News flash: Some people have things they care about. Some of us have attachments to things. It hurts to lose something when it’s your only link to memories that burn in your mind so damn vividly it’s like the day never passed, like things never changed! Please, for once in your life, stop being such a Hylia-damned mess!” he snarls. “You don’t always get a second chance. Usually, you can’t go back once you’ve made mistakes! Usually, you fail at something or make a decision, and you can’t go back! You can never go back! I had to learn that the hard way. It’s time you did too!”

“You think I, of all people, don’t understand the weight of _failure_? You think I fail to see the impact of my death just because I got a second chance? I carry the knowledge that I single-handedly screwed over an entire kingdom with me every damn day!” Wild slumps back onto the seat, hands falling into his lap. “You don’t get to lecture me about failure.” His voice cracks, his shoulders trembling and hands quivering, his hair brushing against the scars on his left hand as he leans over his lap.

“Maybe you _understand_ failure.” Legend scowls. “You clearly haven’t learned anything from it. You want to know why it seems like I always have to be in control? It’s ‘cause I’m tired of other people fucking it up! You people won’t listen to reason!”

“What, are you calling me _unreasonable_ , now, too?” Wild’s face is wet with silent tears but his glare has enough venom to make Legend flinch. “When have I ever been _unreasonable_?”

“Just the other day!” Legend hisses. “ _Someone_ thought it was a good idea to take a detour - uh, _I’m sorry_ , shortcut - and I lost my ocarina because of it!”

“How was _I_ supposed to know those giant thorn bushes would be there? Maybe you should have looked where you were going!” 

“Exactly! How were you supposed to know it would be safe? _That’s_ why we stick to the path!”

“Four’s going to fix the buckle for you - all you lost was an ocarina!” Wild curls his lip. “Don’t you have, like, _ten_ of those things?”

Legend stands, his brow twitching. His ears are ringing. “That- that- that wasn’t _just an ocarina_!”

“Okay, so it was red. What, did your girlfriend give it to you?”

Legend is about to punch Wild so hard his nose would shatter when there’s a sound from the bundle of blankets.

“Uh-” The two look over to see Hyrule sitting up, staring at them warily. “Are… you guys okay?”

“Go back to sleep,” Legend snaps, deflating back onto his seat and holding his head in his hands. “Wild is being a moron.”

“Ugh!” Wild throws his hands into the air. “You’re worse than Twi; everything has to go your way! You think you know everything. You’re not always right, just because you’ve saved five countries, or whatever! That doesn’t make you perfect. You push us away, like you hate us, and then you expect us to listen to you! No one wants to listen to an asshole! Goddesses, it’s so fucking hard to tolerate you sometimes!”

“Woah! Wild-” Hyrule rubs his eyes. “What the heck?”

 _Hard to tolerate… He really thinks that?_ Legend’s ears are rushing with sound. _He never cared- Why do_ I _care?_

“You-!” Legend gasps for air, groping for words, his head swirling. “You don’t take the time to consider others half the time, yourself! You just- You just _go_ ! You blame me for ‘thinking I know everything’, for taking control of the situation - look where we are now! Whose fault is this?” Legend squints his eyes shut, burying his face in his hands. _He hates me he hates me he hates me-_ “Who knows where the others are! We’re going to die out here, and it’s all because _you’re_ too impulsive, because you can’t consider the big picture. Don’t give me bullshit about not being able to face your past. I faced mine just fine, and you have _no idea_ the shit this world’s put me through.” _-he hates me he hates me he hates me-_ “You were the one who ran into that abandoned town just like I told you not to! Now Hyrule’s sick because he had to heal your arm. Maybe if you hadn’t been so moronic as to run into that town on your own, maybe if he didn’t have to use so much energy healing your fucking shoulder, he would have been alright. Maybe it _would_ have just been a cold! Look at what you’ve done to him.” _-he hates me he hates me not again NOT AGAIN-_ “You’re such a fucking _mess_!” Legend is definitely yelling now, screaming, his cheeks feel wet and sticky as salty tears dry against his skin. “You’ve always been such a mess! Maybe that’s why your Hyrule’s such a clusterfuck. You can’t even keep yourself straight, let alone a kingdom!”

Wild flinches back, his face slack and eyes wide.

“What the hell, Legend!” Hyrule yells. “Guys, seriously! What’s going on? Can’t we just-” he bursts into a coughing fit, hacking wetly. His body jolts with every cough, and before he can stop, Wild is already on his feet, stumbling to keep his balance. He throws himself over the bench and lunges for Legend, pinning him against the side of the boat.

“Gah!" Legend's eyes widen. “Wild-"

“Shut up!" Wild's face is twisted into a snarl, his eyes squinted shut. “Shut up, shut up, shut _up_!"

The boat crests a wave, and Legend's stomach lurches as Wild loses his balance. Legend’s stomach churns unpleasantly as he flips backwards, and he’s not sure what’s up or down and there's a moment with nothing but air as he falls, the sky vast and infinite and full of soft white clouds. Then there’s a shout from somewhere to the side, and he plunges into the water.

It's cold. That's the first thing that registers, the only thing that really registers as clouds of bubbles tickle and foam against his cheeks, brushing their way past his face. It's like ice water from the bottom of a half-drank glass on a summer’s day, and it soaks deep into his bones. Everything has turned to cobalt, the surface far above him like a rippling silver-cyan mirror. His eyes are blurring from the salt but he can see the dark silhouette of the boat above him. It's small. Distant.

 _Fuck._ Legend thrashes, kicking wildly at the water, reaching, reaching, reaching- 

His vision goes white as pain shoots through his leg, tearing agony ripping through his body. He curls in on himself with a gasp, squinting his eyes shut. He's sinking, he knows. His lungs throb, burning dully, and he’s still sinking. 

_I can’t-_ He looks upwards, staring at the distant surface, far above his head. _I can’t make it._

The blue feels endless. It's a beautiful color, he realizes. He doesn't think it's ever looked this beautiful. 

More bubbles dance past his face, reflective and warping. There’s a strange pressure in his skull, in his lungs. 

_I suppose_ , he realizes, _there's nothing I can do._ There’s no regret in the statement. It’s sweet, almost, the release. Sometimes it’s nice to not have to try. _They all hate me anyway._

The dip-dye of the ocean’s depths is everything for a beautiful, perfect moment. The water above his head shines and dances, sunlight filtering through the crests and dips, brilliant beams against cerulean infinity. If he looks straight out, a thick strip of pure azure paints the view, glimmering and acrylic. Beneath his feet, the water fades to a deeper and deeper sapphire until it's hardly anything at all, an indigo too profound to register. Indeed, the void itself sits beneath him, yawning and icy and blessedly dark. The surface grows distant. He can't feel much at all. The cold has crawled into his limbs and stayed there, filling every crevice and sitting thick and blunt and icy and numb all the way up to his skin. He's sinking, floating endlessly into the depths of the sea, and if his mind were present he'd know he's hallucinating, but his mind has been consumed in ice and azure, and so the melodic calls of a seagull that echo in his skull couldn't be more real. His eyes slip shut; or maybe, he's only slipped, finally, into the abyss. He's sinking. He’s sinking, slow and beautiful and cold and gemstone-blue. 

He’s sinking until he's not; an unpleasant jolt tearing him out of his reverie. He can't open his eyes, eyelids heavy, far too heavy, but it seems brighter, the light becoming louder and louder and soon it's painful, almost, just to be able to see, and he wonders why he isn't in the abyss, why he isn't allowed to slip away to the place with darkness and seagulls and rest.

 _Or… maybe I am,_ he thinks, as the void catches up with him in dark blotches floating behind his eyelids. _Maybe..._

He doesn't think much more, then, as everything drips and bleeds into blue and light and sudden and loud and bright and cold and crisp and breeze and jolt and yell and suddenly it's burning, burning, burning, and he's hacking and coughing and his throat is full of lava. His lungs feel as though they have been torn to shreds, his lungs are dying, he is dying, his stomach is burning and tearing and with each jolt that racks his body, with each jolt there's more fire and it's everything for a moment and forever.

He's blinking his eyes open. Something a brighter blue than before swims above his head, flocks of white floating amid it, indistinct ghosts in a pseudo-sea. Everything is blurry and bright and silent, like one of the grainy clips Wild showed them from the prototype video feature on the Sheikah Slate. Hyrule's face comes into focus above him and he looks pale and sweaty and terrified all at once. He's saying something, his lips moving too fast for Legend to hope to follow, and his eyes are dilated and wide and he's shaking. Legend groans, and then that sets him hacking again, and he's on his side, his lungs screaming, and he realizes that saltwater is spilling over his lips.

“Legend!" Hyrule is yelling. Someone is holding him on his side; weather-worn wood sits beneath him. The hand rubbing circles on his back is shaking. _Hyrule’s hand_ , Legend realizes. The pain in his lungs is sharper now, no longer a blur of watercolor-blood and grating fire and blue; he can see, he notes, Wild, sitting on the other bench. He's drenched, water dripping from his bangs and running down his face. His shirt sticks close to his shuddering frame. He holds his head in his hands.

Legend pushes himself upright on the bench. His head is pounding, and the wind is biting and cold now that he's above the rim of the boat. His lungs still burn.

Wild looks up at the movement, staring at him through his bangs. He's shaking; his gaze isn't all there. Legend can't hear it but he can tell Wild’s lungs are heaving, gasping for breath. He’s probably still winded. Legend doubts that’s the only reason he continues to struggle. 

They sit there, the moment vibrating, silence strung out over every breath. As Legend’s head gradually slows its incessant spinning, Hyrule is a silent presence beside him, warm and still and terse. There's nothing but the waves until Legend finds his arms have begun to shake, and his elbows are in danger of giving out.

“Thank you," he croaks. “For saving me."

Wild nods. The boat falls back into silence, and Wild turns to stare out to sea, curling in on himself and trembling against the side of the boat. Legend stares at him until warm, gentle arms snake around his middle and he leans backwards into Hyrule's embrace, resting his head on the kid's shoulder. Legend's lungs are aching and burning but Hyrule is rubbing soft circles on his back, and Wild and fire and the siren's blue are forgotten as he finally slips into the abyss. It's a softer abyss than last time, instead of cold and blue and numbing it's warm and deep and soft, and he knows he'll resurface. When he does, Hyrule, at least, will be there. He has Hyrule left. That's all he carries with him into sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the HC about Wild hating being submerged from the LU discord server ages ago. I have no idea who came up with it.  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

He’s woken when a dot appears on the horizon. Hyrule shakes him awake, his pale, feverish face bearing a shaky grin.

“Legend,” he says. “There’s a boat.”

Legend pushes himself upright, rubbing his head. His lungs still burn like they've been shredded to bits but the dark spot on the horizon, the dark spot which grows a little bit more every second, is well worth the discomfort of being awake.

“What do you know," he breathes, his whisper grainy and jagged.

Wild, who has changed into a red and green patchwork-y tunic and a pair of pants Legend has seen him wear to scale cliffs, picks up an oar and looks at Legend, nodding his head at the other oar.

Legend grumbles, limping over to sit beside Wild and picking it up.

“Hey, Legend?" Hyrule says as the two begin rowing, turning the tiny vessel in the direction of the larger boat. Legend grunts in acknowledgment.

“You might want to change in a minute," he says. “Your clothes are still kind of damp. That can't be comfortable."

Legend grunts again.

“You don't want to catch-" He hacks out a harsh string of coughs. “-You don't want to catch a cold like me!"

Legend grunts again. “You should be resting."

“I am resting!"

Legend looks over his shoulder to see Hyrule sprawled out across the back bench dramatically.

“Luxurious, this," he says when Legend gives him a flat look.

The ship grows slowly. Soon, the mast is in distinct view, tall and proud; a large, tawny, square sail flutters from it. Legend can barely make out the shape of the symbol of two crossed cutlasses, large in the center of the sail. Legend grins, rowing harder. _Soon we'll be out of this hellhole of an excuse for a boat-_

“Ah, fuck..." Wild says, his oar stalling in the air.

“What?" Hyrule shifts behind them, leaning forwards. “What is it?"

“Look at their flag."

From the top of the mast flutters a black flag, embroidered with the stark white symbol of a skull and crossbones.

“...Oh." Hyrule says.

Legend groans, burying his head in his hands. “Better than dying out here alone, I guess," he grumbles into his palms.

After a moment, he shakes himself and picks his oar back up. “Let's go."

Wild follows suit, and soon, they're making their way across the water towards the approaching pirate ship.

Dehydration is a terrible beast, one that's dry and fierce and taunting. Each stroke of the oar sends Legend's head spinning and dancing away, cloud-light and cottony. Before long, he's taking great, gasping breaths, breaths that claw and tear and rip at his throat, at his lungs, at his stomach, screaming like rug burn tenfold. Wild's breathing is heavy, too, and Legend hopes Hyrule made him eat some melon while Legend was out. If Legend felt like he was going to pass out, Wild was probably actually on the verge of passing out.

_Idiot..._

A shout from the deck of the ship finds Legend dropping his oar into the bottom of the boat. _They've spotted us_ , he thinks with a blend of beautiful relief and terrible fear. His stomach turns unpleasantly. A ladder drops from the deck as they pull up alongside the ship, and Wild stands, stumbling over to Hyrule and pulling him to his feet. Hyrule must be light, because Wild only sways a little as he hobbles over to the ladder. He looks back at Legend, who is still sitting, holding his throbbing head.

“You coming?"

Legend sighs, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling over to the two.

“I don't know if-" Hyrule is hesitating in front of the ladder, still leaning heavily on Wild. He sneezes. “I don't know if I can make it all the way-" Hyrule sways, then. “Uhh…”

“Hyrule?” Wild readjusts his grip on the other hero, eyes wide. “Hyrule, are you okay-”

Hyrule goes limp in Wild’s arms, and Wild stumbles from the added weight, collapsing onto the bench.

“Fuck.” Legend feels his forehead; it’s blazing hot, and he cringes.

Wild's face twists uncomfortably, and he looks back at Legend. “Uh... I’ll just carry him. It’ll be okay."

Legend knows Wild is good at climbing, but he also looks like he's about to fall over. He frowns.

A man's face appears at the deck of the ship. He wears a red bandana and his face is twisted into an unpleasant scowl.

“Oi, you! What are you waitin' for? Get up here, yeah? Or do we have to come and get you ourselves?"

“Our friend is very sick," Wild says, motioning to Hyrule. “We’re not sure we can make it up with him..."

The man groans and disappears for a moment, then reappears.

“Just grab on tight, yeah? We'll haul you up."

Wild nods, climbing up first, clutching Hyrule’s unconscious form tight to his side. Legend follows, hauling himself onto the lower rungs. 

The ladder sways as they are pulled up on board and Legend feels his head swim up into the sky. Something in his burning stomach churns and his mouth fills with bitter-tasting saliva. He swallows, staring at the bottoms of Wild’s boots and willing himself not to look down. 

Finally, blessedly, Legend is dragged over the rim of the boat and he collapses onto the worn, sun-warmed wooden deck. He groans, his vision spinning. Then he’s hauled to his feet by firm hands, and the world gives one last swoop before coming into hazy focus. 

He’s standing on the deck of a considerably-sized vessel. The wheel is up on a higher deck to his right, the bow to his left. The ship dips and heaves with every wave, and though Legend has been sailing plenty of times, his sea legs have been stolen away by his dry throat and swaying head. Hyrule and Wild are being held up next to him by burly-looking men. One has pressed the flat of a tarnished knife against Hyrule’s throat.

“Don’t try anything funny,” he grunts when Legend shoots him a dirty look. 

Then, the door to his left slams open, and a young girl struts out. 

She can’t be older than Wind, and for a moment, Legend is sure she is a captive, held for ransom, perhaps. But the way the other pirates nod to her, respect clear in their eyes, speaks to something else, and he’s forced to reconsider. She wears loose, airy clothing, a red handkerchief tied around her neck. A cutlass is strapped to her waist; her yellowy-blonde hair curls into the strangest top knot Legend has ever seen, wayward zigs hanging down and framing her deeply tanned, grinning face. She places her hands firmly on her hips. 

A little girl, no older than ten, darts out of the doorway behind her. She wears a purple, skull-patterned dress. Her hair is in pigtails, which throws Legend for a loop. She grins toothily and stands beside Top Knot Girl, mimicking her stance.

“So, what are you three doing in a tiny rowboat in the middle of the ocean?” Top Knot Girl strolls towards Legend, hand resting on the hilt of her cutlass. “And what the hell happened to you? You look terrible.”

“Thanks,” Legend grunts. “Don’t ask me what we were doing; it was all his fault.” He nods his head in Wild’s direction. 

She raises her eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?” She walks over to Wild. “So?”

“Huh?” Wild’s brow is creased, and he’s staring intently into Top Knot Girl’s face. Legend wonders if perhaps the dehydration is worse than he thought.

Top Knot Girl sighs. “What’re you doing here? Ya gonna cause us trouble?”

“Do… do we look like we’re _capable_ of causing you trouble?” His voice rasps painfully, and Top Knot Girl shrugs.

“I guess not. Let ‘em go, boys.”

Legend sighs, half-smiling as his hands are released from behind his back. He gives the oddly-proportioned man behind him a nod, then finds himself in the man’s arms again as he completely loses his balance. Legend groans. The pirate eases him to the floor and Legend grunts, grabbing his throbbing head. Wild follows suit, plonking himself onto the deck. Legend finds Hyrule sprawled out across the deck a few feet away and scooches over. Hyrule grins up at him, apparently having been woken up by being set down. His vision can’t seem to focus. 

“Hi,” he croaks. 

“Wow.” Top Knot Girl crouches beside him. “You really are ill… Let’s head to my cabin. You can borrow my bed. Nudge, be a gentleman and carry this young man for me, please?”

“Yes, Miss Tetra,” says the man beside Hyrule. He bends down to pick him up, then trips over himself in surprise when Wild gasps loudly, landing heavily on the deck with a grunt.

“OH!” Wild yells, then grabs the sides of his head with a wince, staring at the ground. Top Knot Girl jolts, and whirls around, her cutlass halfway out of its scabbard. 

“What?” she says. “What is it?” 

“You’re Tetra?” Wild croaks, forcing his gaze upwards. 

She levels a glare at him. “What’s it to you?”

Wild grins. “I knew it! Wi- I mean, uh, Link’s told us about you!”

Top Knot Girl pales, her eyes widening. “You-”

“You know Link?” the other girl shouts, sprinting forward. She latches onto Wild’s collar and pulls him towards her, staring up at him with big, watery eyes. “Where is he? Is he okay?”

“What…? He’s fine…” He seems bewildered by the child holding him hostage. “You… must be Aryll.”

“He’s talked about me too?” she asks. “Where is he? Do you know where he is? Can you take us to him?”

Wild stares at her. His focus seems to blur, his eyes staring straight through her face. _Ah, fuck. Is that a memory? Now? You’ve got to be kidding me_. 

Legend is rescued from having to deal with a catatonic Wild when Tetra comes up behind Aryll and picks her up by the waist, setting the girl atop her shoulders. Wild’s eyes refocus. 

“Sorry about… her,” Tetra says. “We… we've been looking for Link for a long time.”

Legend opens his mouth to speak but Wild beats him to it. “How long has he been away?” His brow is creased. 

“Months.” Tetra doesn’t break eye contact. “But you’re here now! You’ve met him?” Her eyes narrow. “Wait - _Have_ you met him?”

“Huh?” 

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” Tetra stares into Wild’s eyes. 

“Goddesses, you’re so _trusting_ ,” Legend grunts. “Lady, we need some-” he coughs harshly, and for a moment, he gasps, his lungs flaring in pain. “Can you get us some fucking water?”

“I don’t know about fucking water,” she says, winking, “but I can get you water.”

“Ah!” Wild shouts. Tetra jumps. 

“I swear! Stop doing that!” She scowls at him

“I know how you can trust us! I’ve got photo proof!” He yells, ignoring her. “Look!” He pulls out his Sheikah Slate and starts tapping it madly. After a moment of silence where the entire crew stares at the device in confusion, he holds it up for everyone to see.

“What do you know,” Tetra breathes. “There he is.”

The pictograph on Wild’s Slate shows Wild and Legend posing on a rocky plain. Wind’s grinning face takes up much of the foreground. Legend remembers the day Wild took it; he hadn’t much wanted to have his picture taken, but Wind was hard to turn down. 

“Can you take us to him?” Aryll shouts. “Please? Please? Please-”

“A- actually, we’ve been looking for him and some other friends,” Legend says. “We got _separated_.” He shoots a low glare in Wild’s direction. 

“Damn...” Tetra says.

“We can look for them _together_!” Aryll cheers, leaning over Tetra’s head. 

“Ah, great idea, Aryll!” Tetra affords her a grin. “First, though, we should get these young men fixed up, huh?”

A strong arm wraps itself under Legend’s shoulders and hoists him to his feet. He finds himself leaning on the burly red-bandana-ed pirate who had held him before. On his right, Wild is helped to his feet in the same fashion by his pirate, who sports a rather low-cut purple v-neck shirt. The third pirate, whom Tetra had called Nudge, picks Hyrule right off the ground, and though he protests to such treatment, he can’t do much more than slap the man’s arm irritably. 

“I wasn’t gonna slice you,” he says. “Don’t worry.”

They are helped into the ship’s cabin, a dusty, wood-paneled room. The pirates lead them around a staircase leading deeper into the ship and through a doorway into a dim bedroom. Teal fabric is draped from the ceiling, cutting through the center of the room in great scalloping swathes. There’s a lime-quilted bed in the corner; a map with a Triforce symbol drawn onto it is pinned onto the back wall. A desk bearing a globe and a flower-shaped lamp sits adjacent to the same wall. Above a stripy green couch near the doorway hangs the portrait of a woman with brown hair. 

Tetra nods at the pirates. Hyrule is set on the bed, Wild and Legend led to the couch. Legend eases himself onto the pine green fabric, his head spinning. The dusty air isn’t helping his lungs, which still throb with an insistent sting.

“Boys, could you get us some water?” Tetra says, plonking herself down in the desk chair. 

“Sure thing, Miss Tetra,” says Bandana, leading the others out of the room. 

“Thanks! I’ma have a quick chat with these guys. Aryll, you’re outta here.”

“Aw, what?” Aryll grumbles, wrinkling her nose at Tetra. “I wanna stay. I’m old enough to hear what they have to say.”

“Aryll-”

“How am I supposed to help you guys look for Link if I don’t know what’s going on?”

“Aryll, you know I’ll let you know if there’s anything-”

“What else am I supposed to do, anyway?” Aryll pouts.

“You can go help Niko with the laundry, if you’d like,” Tetra suggests.

“Uh, nevermind! I think I’m okay!” The girl darts out of the room and slams the door shut behind her. 

Tetra lets out a breathy laugh, turning back to the three heroes. “Is there anything else we can do for you?” she asks. “There isn’t much we can do about your fever-” she nods to Hyrule- “but we’ll try our best.”

“Thanks,” Wild croaks. “Do you have any potions we could use? Fairies, maybe?”

“No, sorry,” she says. “We ran out after a run-in with a group of less-than-friendly people who claimed they’d seen Link… they were a _disgrace_ to pirates, let me tell you. I do have some questions, though.” She leans back in her chair, teetering on the two back legs. “First, what can I call you?”

“Uh, kinda-” Legend’s voice breaks. “Kinda a long story why, but I go by Legend, he’s Wild, and that’s Hyrule.” He motions to the others in turn. 

“Huh.” Tetra frowns. “Okay.”

The door slams open, and Nudge stumbles through, carrying a large barrel. He plonks it down heavily on the tawny carpet. Bandana follows him in, carrying four glasses.

“Here you go, Miss,” he says. 

“Thank you!” Tetra lets her chair fall flat again and stands, nodding to Nudge and taking the glasses from Bandana, wrapping him in a quick hug. 

“Thanks, Gonzo,” she says. Bandana’s - _Gonzo’s_ face grows bright, bright red, and when Tetra pulls away, he can’t quite seem to make eye contact with her as he replies.

“‘Course, Miss Tetra.”

Gonzo and Nudge close the door behind them, and Tetra turns back to them. She twists open the spigot on the barrel and fills the four glasses with beautiful, beautiful water. 

“So, how do you three know Link?” she asks, handing Legend a glass. He chugs it, and his throat screams as it goes down, but it’s cold and it tastes so _good_ , almost as sweet as the water given to him by the captain of the ship that picked him up three days after Koholint. Almost, but not quite. 

He finishes the glass and takes a moment to catch his breath. Beside him, Wild is already done with his glass.

“How do we know Link, you said?” Wild says. 

“Long story.” Hyrule barks out a hoarse laugh. Tetra walks over to him. 

“I’d love to hear it,” she says, helping Hyrule sit up and putting the glass to his lips. “We have time.”

As Hyrule drinks like the world is ending, Legend explains who the nine heroes are and how they came together. Tetra listens thoughtfully, refilling their glasses halfway through and interrupting to mandate they keep hydrated. By the time Legend has finished, she’s back on two legs of the desk chair, her eyes distant.

“Have you met someone who’s travelled like that before?” she asks. “Tall, much older than me, kind of an idiot but smart at the same time… Link and I helped him out a few years ago when the universe decided to barf its guts out all over the temporal stream.”

“Maybe,” Wild says. “That could be a few people.”

“Oh.” She falls back onto four chair legs. “Let me see... He had blue eyes and blond hair-” She sighs at their blank faces. “That’s a terrible description, what am I thinking. He was a captain in the army, uh… He had this scarf that he _absolutely refused_ to take off-”

“Blue?” Legend asks.

“Yes, it was blue!” She says, grinning. “You know him?”

Legend smiles. “Sure, we know that idiot. We call him Warriors.”

“So I’ll get to see him again?” Tetra asks, dropping her chair to the ground and bouncing in her seat. 

“If we can find the others, sure,” Wild says. 

“That actually brings me to my other question,” Tetra says. Then, her stomach growls and her eyes widen. “Ah. Snack break?”

“Right here.” Wild reaches into his bag and pulls out an apple, tossing it in Tetra’s direction. She snatches it out of the air over her head.

“Thanks!” she says, snapping it clean in half with her bare hands. Wild gapes as she takes a big bite out of the side. “So,” she says, still chewing, “do you have any idea where to start looking for them?”

“Can you teach me?” Wild says.

“Huh?” Tetra stops chewing, looking at him in bewilderment.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” he says. “Break an apple in half like that?”

“Not relevant, Wild,” Legend growls. 

Tetra looks at Wild, then looks at Legend’s glare. “I’ll show you later.” She winks at him.

“We’re going to have so many apple halves lying around…” Legend groans. “Anyways. You asked where to start?”

“That’s right.”

“They might come through the same portal as us,” Wild suggests.

“If that’s the case, we’ll have to go back to the island.” Legend says. “I thought you wanted nothing to do with the place.”

“Well-” Wild glares at him. “I was under a lot of stress, okay? _Sorry_ I ruined your _perfect plan_.”

“ _You_ were under a lot of stress?” Legend stands, staring down at him. 

“O-okay,” Tetra says, walking over to stand between the two. “Let’s not fight now. What I’m hearing is that we may or may not have a lead?”

“We would have to go back to the island,” Wild says. “I don’t think we have enough healing stuff to make it back through there, and Hyrule’s only getting worse.”

“No thanks to you,” Legend scoffs. “How the hell are we supposed to find the others, then?”

“We could restock somewhere safe,” Wild says.

“Fuck, Wild, I don’t know what counts as safe anymore! Weren’t we safe at camp? Weren’t we safe taking the conventional path?”

“Please, stop fighting!” Hyrule says from the bed. “You aren’t helping anything.”

“Goddesses Legend, sometimes you’re living so little it’s like you aren’t even alive at all! You’re such an uptight _asshole_!” 

“I’m trying not to die! What does it matter how much I’m living? Everyone seems to hate me anyways!”

“ _I wonder why?_ ” Wild hisses. 

The room falls silent. Legend’s head is buzzing; he isn’t quite sure what Wild said, but something in him wants to punch him and something else wants to punch a wall and something else wants to take it all back and something else doesn’t even want to exist. It all swirls around inside him, his colors bleeding into each other, runny paint mixing to a panicky blur of muddled brown and stomach-twisting anxiety. 

He slams the door on his way out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pictograph that Wild shows to Tetra can be found here: https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/post/179760082649/about-linkeduniverse-the-photogenic-links  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

Legend finds himself in the crow’s nest. 

The garden gnome-esque telescope-wielding man, whose sideburns Legend finds impressive, took one look at Legend’s face and started down the ladder. Now he sits alone, high above the deck. The skull-and-crossbones flag cracks and flutters above his head. He’s too high up to hear the waves, and he is grateful for the momentary absence of the ocean’s music, his skull instead filled with the rushing of the wind. 

He sighs, pulling his knees closer to his chest and staring out over the endless white-crested waves. Large, dark clouds streak across the distant horizon, and he can see the faint imprints of rain beneath them. It's hard to tell which way they're moving, but given the direction of the wind, there's a good chance they'll soon be sailing in a storm.

A flicker of lightning pierces a fragment of the darkness of the squall, then another, and Legend squints his eyes shut, dropping his forehead onto his knees. He isn't sure there's anything he'd much like to see right now.

There's a rustle of fabric behind him, and he peeks under his crossed arm to see who it is. Blue cloth, white embroidery- he sighs again, burying his face back into the fabric of his sleeves. _Here we go…_

“Look, Legend-" Wild starts. “I-" He rustles again, probably fidgeting. He sighs. “I... didn't mean it."

Legend's face scrunches up. _Sure, you didn't_.

“I didn't mean any of it... Not any of the stuff I said back on the rowboat, or anything just now."

Legend bites his tongue.

“Look, man, I'm sorry, okay?" Wild says. “We're all tired, and stressed, and..." He sighs again. “I really didn't mean it. It was really... horrible of me to say that stuff. I value..."

He trails off. Legend peeks under his shoulder again to see that Wild has sat down with his back to him, his feet dangling down the ladder.

“I value your opinion. I value you."

The wind roars.

“Please," Legend says, wrapping his arms tight around his head. He hates the way his voice cracks, the way it fractures all the way down to his soul. “Please leave."

The next time he looks back, he finds he's alone, again, with the howling wind. Wild has left him another glass of water. He’s been left to himself, and he finds that he feels no less empty than before. 

_Why, why, why?_ He pulls on his bangs, scrunching his eyes shut. _Why do I care?_

**\----**

It's difficult to climb in the rain.

Legend can't tell if he's sweating or if it's just the raindrops running down his face. He is struggling, that’s for sure; his fingers are white with strain, trying to grip the slick, smooth stone. The other Links seem to have known that this would be a difficult climb, though, for each holds the other end of a rope that has been tied to his belt. To Legend, this seems like the most overkill he’s ever seen, but one doesn’t always do the trick, as evidenced by the frayed rope hanging loose from his belt. Better safe than sorry, especially after last time. Legend shudders at the memory of the rope snapping under his weight, leaving him falling, falling-

“You’re doing great so far, Legend!” Wild calls down to him from the clifftop. 

_Why do I have to do this, again?_

Then, Legend’s foot slips. He looks down in alarm to see chunks of rock plunging to the stones below, his foot hanging over open air. 

_Fuck_. Legend toes at the rock, trying to find a foothold. Then, he freezes; the end of a new-looking rope swings back and forth beneath his feet, hanging loose. There’s two ropes down there now. He looks up in alarm.

“Sorry!” Twilight calls down. “I lost my grip! So damn slippery…” 

_It’s okay. Relying on their ropes just makes me sloppy anyway._

“Be careful, Legend!” Hyrule shouts. “I don’t know if you can take another fall like the last one!”

He’s right, Legend realizes. His lungs and ribs smart and throb with terrible pain. He’s broken enough ribs to know that some have been snapped. It’s hard to breathe; his muscles are screaming, and his foot still dangles…

“Ah, crap!” Another rope falls past him. “Dang, Twi, you’re right. These are really hard to hold onto.”

“I know, right?”

Legend finally finds a better foothold and takes a moment to breathe. _Why the hell am I doing this?_

He grimaces, bracing himself. Releasing his right hand from the stone, he opens and closes his fingers a few times to get the blood flowing, then scrabbles at the stone further down. He grunts in triumph when his fingers find purchase. Before he can begin easing himself down, the rock beneath his feet cracks. He gasps, looking down to see- _one, two, three, four, five, six_ \- seven ropes hanging loose, next to the eighth one from years ago. As the stone beneath him gives out, he looks up to see Wild, smiling, holding the end of the last rope loosely in his hand. For an instant, he’s reminded of a similar moment, the snapping of a threadbare string - _red, red hair_ \- then, he’s falling, the final rope dropped along with him.

“Sorry, Legend,” Wild calls.

The apology doesn’t change the fact that he’s plunging down, down, down, sinking through endless blue and cold in a cloud of abandoned ropes, knotted to his belt. This time, there’s no silence through which to fade, no seagulls to accompany him, not even the howling wind or the lapping waves. Only the echo of Wild’s voice.

_I wonder why?_

_I wonder why?_

_I wonder why?_

**\----**

He’s shaken awake by the gnomish man with the telescope. 

The sky is darkening and the winds are picking up, and Legend realizes that his earlier prediction about the storm is coming true. 

The little man nods to the ladder, and Legend obligingly takes his leave, hand over hand, hobbling down on one leg, the other still smarting. A few seconds later, the man appears above him on the ladder. The crow’s nest is not the place to be in a gale this size.

The rain starts in earnest when he’s halfway down the ladder, and he hisses as his hand slips off the rung. The connotation is eerie, he supposes, considering the dream he’s just had, but he’s used to it; Legend has been cursed with lucid dreams ever since Koholint. Nevertheless, feeling the deck beneath his boots is a relief. 

“Legend!” Tetra runs up to him. “You should get below- Aryll and Wild, too. This is shaping up to be a big one.”

“Sure thing,” he says, and she rushes off, yelling orders to her crew. Legend is glad she sent him below. He may be an experienced sailor, but as the storm is taking shape, the relative safety of the cabin is looking more and more welcoming.

He looks around to find Wild and spots him by the ship's edge, Aryll on his shoulders. They seem to be greeting the oncoming gale. Legend shudders.

“Hey, Wild!" he calls. When the other hero looks over, he says, “Tetra says we should get below soon." Wild nods, waving. Aryll giggles as he pretends to lose his balance with the rocking of the boat.

Legend hobbles into the cabin, closing the door carefully behind him, and slips through the doorway into Tetra's room.

Hyrule is asleep. His face is pale and sweaty, and Legend cringes, but there isn't much he knows to do for him. He slinks over to the couch, making an effort to soften his footfalls. Sinking into the cushion, he tries to ignore the muffled thunder and the drumming of the rain on the deck above his head. It's hard when it's the only sound.

The ship lurches and Legend cringes, shrinking in on himself. He scooches to the side of the couch, pressing up against the arm and pulling his knees up to his chest. Thunder shakes the walls, and he squints his eyes shut. _Fucking storm..._

The room heaves, and he grabs the armrest, clinging to the chair. Hyrule wakes with a gasp, and tries to sit up in bed before falling back onto his pillow.

“Legend..." he croaks.

Legend slides off the couch and teeters over to the bed. Hyrule looks at him, his eyes distant and bleary.

“How do you feel?" He asks, putting his hand to Hyrule's forehead. It's cool, and Legend smiles. “Your fever’s broken.”

“Cool.” Hyrule frowns. “I still feel like crud. What-" He coughs harshly, the sound grating at his throat. “Wha's going on?"

“There's a storm," he says. “It'll be okay. You should go back to sleep, if you can."

“Where-" Hyrule coughs again, and this time it keeps going, his chest spasming weakly. Thunder crashes somewhere above, and Hyrule finishes with a wheeze. “Wild and Aryll…?"

“They're on their way," Legend says. Then he frowns. “At least, they should be. I told them to come down..."

“Maybe," Hyrule says, “you should check.”

“That might be a good idea-"

The sound of the rain grows louder, and Legend realizes someone's opened the door to the cabin. “Ah, that must be them."

Aryll bursts through the doorway, dripping water all over the floor. Her eyes are wide, her face pale. She's alone.

“Where's Wild?" Legend asks, running over to her and kneeling down. He almost doesn't want to know.

“His hair got caught in some rigging thingy," she gasps out. “He won't cut it, even though I told him to, idiot. He told me to get you."

He sighs, standing up. “What a moron. Wait here."

Legend strides through the entryway of the cabin, making his way to the iron-bound door. He opens it and peers out through the wall of pouring rain, trying to spot Wild. The crew is nothing more than a group of dark silhouettes, scrambling around the mast and riggings. He can distantly hear Tetra's voice, shouting orders. Waves are sloshing up over the sides, a foamy deluge washing over the deck. Lightning flashes and Legend flinches, then takes a deep breath. The following thunder is loud, shaking the wood of the deck beneath his feet, but Legend has braced himself. He squints, but can't see Wild anywhere. He growls, striding out onto the deck, letting the door swing shut behind him.

The rain is instant and drenching, and after only a few moments of limping across the slick boards, trying to spot the champion, Legend is completely soaked through. He sees Wild, though. He's struggling to pull his hair out of one of the intricate mechanisms that controls the mast. With one last tug, it comes free, and Wild turns to come back. _Fucking finally._ Legend is about to turn around and head back to the safety and quiet of the cabin, assuming Wild will be fine, when the misty world is thrown into sharp contrast at the crack of lightning, and the boat gives a tremendous heave. Legend just has time to see the panicked look on Wild's face before a wall of water roars over the side of the boat. The wave crashes over everything and Legend is knocked off his feet and falls to the deck, saltwater rushing over him and throwing him against the side of the boat. He gasps as white flares behind his eyelids, his head throbbing. Everything’s spinning, and he can’t get enough air, and he’s drowning, and it’s dark, and _every inch is trembling, shaking, smarting-_ the water recedes, leaving Legend lying on the deck. He coughs sharply, breathes deeply. _It's fine. It's fine. You're fine. You're still on board, Tetra knows what she's doing, Tetra knows what she’s-Wild!_

Legend stumbles to his feet, scanning the deck for Wild. The place he stood before is empty, and Legend gasps, rushing over and peering over the side. He scans the dark, choppy waters, the roaring waves.

Then- there! A flash of blond hair in the dark water.

 _Fuck._ Wild is flailing his way through the waves, making slow progress towards the side of the boat. He might have a chance of holding on if he can just get to the side of the boat. Right now he's only losing distance. As Legend watches, a wave bounces off the side of the boat and crashes over Wild's head. He’s swept out of view. _Fuck, fuck, fuck-_

Legend’s hand goes to his belt. There’s nothing there. _My hookshot is back at camp!_ he realizes. Twisting around, he scans the deck. He blinks the water out of his eyes. Shoving the hair that clings to his face out of the way, he peers through the pounding veil of the rain.

The ship heaves and he stumbles. His boot slips on the slick wood of the deck. He forces down a scream as he is thrown to the deck, the impact knocking the breath out of him.

He gasps, desperately trying to regain his breath and forcing himself to his feet. _No time to panic no time to panic no time to panic_ \- 

He bites back another scream as the deck is thrown into sharp relief. Tongues of lighting crackle white and stark and blinding over the churning sea. A coil of rope is visible a few feet away on the deck. He sprints over struggling to stay on his feet. He nearly trips when the roar of thunder shatters the air. Squinting against the stinging rain, he stumbles the last few feet to the rope. He grabs it and finds the end. Tying the quickest noose he can, he pulls the end tight. He throws it over the side of the boat, hoping, hoping to everything that Wild can reach it.

“ _Wild!_ _Grab on!_ ”

He cranes his neck. There’s nothing, nothing but crashing, roiling, inky sea, foaming and roaring. For a moment, Legend is sure he’s too late until- _there!_ A flash of golden hair. 

“ _Wild!_ ” he screams. 

Wild is paddling desperately towards the rope. A wave crashes over his head and he's swept under but, _no, there he is-!_ and he's grabbed onto the loop, and Legend is pulling, then, his feet braced against the edge of the boat. _Hand over hand, hand over hand, hand over hand-_ It's pouring and he's drenched and each flash of lightning, each shattering, pounding beat of thunder quickens his breath, and he can feel his fingers start to cramp, numb and tingling from the icy pounding of the rain, but he squints his eyes shut and _heaves_ , tugging upwards on the rope. His arms are screaming, screaming, screaming. Spots dance behind his eyelids and he groans, gasping for breath, his lungs shuddering. Then, Wild's drenched form crashes into him, and they both fall to the deck. Legend scrambles to his feet, pulling Wild along with him, arms weak and shaking. They make their stumbling way back across the drenched wood. Legend can barely see the cabin through the blinding sheets of rain falling from the sky, but he knows the way. Wild is practically clinging to his tunic, coughing violently and struggling to keep up, to stay on his feet. His face is deathly pale, his breathing rapid. Legend is sure he's much the same, but right now there isn't much he can do for Wild beyond stumble his unsteady way back to safety and dryness.

Gonzo appears before them, nothing more than a vague silhouette of a chunky man with a bandana. “What're you two doin' out here?" he shouts, his voice distant in the pounding rain. “You should be inside, yeah?"

“We're trying to _get_ inside!" Legend yells, pushing past him and stumbling his slippery way to the wall.

He lands against the wood of the cabin with a _thud_ , feeling his way along the dripping wood until his hand hits the doorframe. He finds the handle and yanks it open, and warm light floods his vision. He pulls Wild through, slamming the door shut and bracing his back against it, his lungs heaving. He's shaking and he grits his teeth, digging his fingernails into the wood of the doorway as muffled thunder booms behind his back. Wild has collapsed in a shivering heap on the ground, clutching his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth, back and forth.

Aryll appears in the doorway, still dripping lazy droplets onto the floor. She gasps at the sight of them, and dashes towards them.

“Oh, my gosh!" she says, skidding to a stop on her knees beside Wild. “Are you guys okay?"

Wild looks up at her, bracing his hands against the floor, and affords her a pale, shaky grin.

“Right as rain," he says. His voice is warbling and faint, and no one laughs at his halfhearted joke. Legend sighs and grabs onto Wild's upper arm.

“Come on, let's get to the room. You can sit on the couch."

Wild doesn't protest, letting himself be led into Tetra's room. Now that they're out of the storm and the adrenaline is fading, Legend's leg is screaming and throbbing with dull heat after his rough treatment of it. Wild is shaking against him, trembling and shivering. His breath is still coming in desperate heaves. When they reach the couch, Legend forces him down onto the seat, then sits next to him. Wild stares down at his shaking hands, gasping for breath and watching water drip off his bangs and land in his lap. His hair has come undone, and it lies flat against his face, his shoulders, his chest, matted, darkened, and spidery.

“Hey, Wild," Legend murmurs, taking Wild's trembling hands in his own. “Look at me."

After a moment where no one speaks but the thunder, roaring dully in the distance, he does, making shaky eye contact through his bangs. His pupils are huge, his eyes wide. Legend rubs careful, rhythmic circles on the backs of his hands with his thumbs.

“You need to breathe with me. Come on," he says. “Follow my breath."

 _In…_ Legend inhales deeply and carefully, closing his eyes.

 _Out…_ He exhales, and he hears Wild exhale shakily along with him.

 _In…_ He opens his eyes and looks at Wild, whose eyes are focused on Legend’s own.

 _Out…_ They exhale together, and this time the thunder doesn’t sound quite so loud.

 _In…_ The pittering rain slips out of pounding anxiety and into calming monotony.

 _Out…_ Legend feels his shoulders relax. Some persistent tension inside him has broken.

_In…_

_Out…_ Before he can finish exhaling, the breath is knocked the rest of the way out of him by Wild, who throws himself across the couch to wrap him in a trembling hug.

“ _Thank you,_ " he breathes. “And I'm _so, so sorry._ ”

For a moment, Legend can do nothing more than sit there, shocked. Then, hesitantly, he wraps his arms around Wild’s middle, resting his head on the other hero’s shoulder.

They sit in silence, then, in each others' arms, as the rain pounds against the deck, as the thunder rages in the distance. Together they breathe, in and out, in and out.

“I'm sorry, too," Legend says finally.

Wild pulls away, holding Legend's hands and looking into his eyes. “I think... I think we just need to be willing to understand each other. Or, at least, try to. We're really different, that's all."

“You're right, I think." Legend frowns. “Well, actually, you're wrong."

Wild raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?"

“We aren't..." Legend sighs. “We aren't _that_ different."

“Sure we are," Wild says. “I want my freedom, and you want..." he shudders. “ _Predictability_. But that's okay! We'll figure it out."

“No, no, that's not what I meant," Legend says. “I... I remember being like you, once. Maybe not quite like you, but similar. I felt like I had to keep running... that if I didn't keep running, everything would catch up to me and I'd fall apart. It's one of the reasons I've had so many adventures; for a while there, I couldn't stay in one place.” He closes his eyes, remembering the sight of a cold, empty house, silent and dusty, and a hollow pain throbs in his stomach. “Then it all changed, when..."

“What?" Wild whispers.

“I... found an island, one that I shouldn't have been able to find. It didn't end well, for anyone involved. After that, I couldn't ever quite find the same comfort in the new. Nothing…” he hesitates. “Nothing feels like it can last. Everything feels so out of control."

This is the most Legend has ever talked about what happened on Koholint, but somehow, tonight feels surreal, almost like nothing is really happening. Something about being here with Wild and Hyrule and the little girl Wind can't seem to shut up about has drawn something out of him, and for once, the dreamlike sensation is comforting. He finds he can't stop talking.

Wild is staring at their hands, his thumb rubbing back and forth across Legend's palm. “I'm sorry."

“Don't be," Legend says.

After a moment of nothing but rain against roof and wall-shaking thunder, Wild speaks.

“I suppose you're right, about feeling like you have to run. That's exactly how it feels sometimes." His leg bounces aimlessly as he talks. “I feel like... sometimes, I have to keep moving. When I'm out in the wild, maybe I'm not Link. Maybe it doesn't matter if I don't even know who I am. Maybe it doesn't-" His voice cracks. “Maybe it doesn't hurt as much. Maybe, if I'm doing stupid shit, I'm okay. Maybe if I'm lost, I don't constantly feel like I've lost myself. It's so much easier to hide if I never slow down enough to let everything catch up to me. Maybe when I'm doing something crazy, maybe I'm Wild, maybe I'm really living, even when I feel like I'm dying from the inside out."

Legend leans back, resting his head against the frame of the couch. His eyes follow the grain of the ceiling. He can hear the rain plattering on the other side.

“We should talk sometime. About that, I mean.” Legend says. “I mean- if you want to- or, if you want… you should talk to someone, sometime-”

“I just did.” Wild puts his hand on Legend’s shoulder. “Thank you. And I’ll keep that in mind.”

The thunder has stopped, and the rain is now nothing more but a persistent drumming on the roof, no longer a morbid omen.

“Are you afraid of death?" Legend asks suddenly.

Wild looks up in surprise. “I suppose," he says, “although I probably shouldn't be. I'm already on my second chance."

After a moment, Legend sighs. 

“When I was drowning,” he says finally, “once I realized I wouldn’t be able to make it to the surface, I wasn’t afraid. Before, I was sure that was because I had accepted that there was nothing I could do… but I’m starting to wonder if…” 

He runs his hand through his bangs. “I’m starting to wonder if it’s because I didn’t really care to begin with.”

“Well,” Wild says, “if you want to enjoy life, you can’t be afraid to live.”

The rain is beginning to taper off, and Legend can feel his eyelids drooping. He picks up his head for a moment to look over at Hyrule. He's out, mouth open and drooling. Aryll is curled up next to him, long lost to the world of dreams. He smiles faintly.

“Y'know, Wild?" he murmurs.

“Yeah?" Wild says.

“We should really do this more often."

Before he closes his eyelids at last, he sees Wild's grinning face, sleepy and content.


	6. Chapter 6

As Legend’s feet hit the dock of Outset Island, he sighs. The wood planks beneath his feet are sturdy and sun-warmed, and though his swirling head still insists he’s rocking with the rhythm of the open seas, some hidden tension within him is released when he finds his footing without having to compensate for each wave.

Legend turns back to the boat, helping a still-unsteady Hyrule over the side. He gives Legend a shaky grin. Wild’s face appears at the side of the boat, grinning, and then disappears. A moment later, he reappears, leaping over the side of the boat. Right away, Legend can see that he has overshot the dock, and with a great splash, Legend's entire backside is drenched.

Legend turns to see Wild come up, shaking out his hair and spitting out water with a lopsided grin. 

“Whoops,” he says with a nervous laugh.

Legend sighs, bending down and holding out his hands. Wild grasps them, and as Legend begins to pull him out of the water, Wild gives him a sharp tug, and Legend topples off the deck, splashing into the water, the salt stinging his eyes.

Legend doesn't dare try to kick for the surface, not with his still-throbbing leg, instead grabbing onto one of the legs of the dock and pulling himself above the surface. Wild grins down at him from atop the dock, dripping all over the wood. Legend sends him a scathing glare, pulling himself onto the sandy, sun-warmed wood.

“You look like a drowned rat." Hyrule chuckles and Legend redirects his glare.

“If you weren't still recovering, you'd be in the water right now," Legend says.

There’s a shaky sigh from behind them, and the three heroes turn around to see Aryll standing on the dock, looking up at the island. Legend follows her gaze and takes in Wind’s home town.

It’s a quaint little place, nothing more than a few houses set between the shoreline and the towering cliffs that tower above the sea, and yet there’s an undeniable feeling of warmth. Maybe it’s the hordes of children running around, maybe it’s how the villagers pause on the thin-worn paths to talk… 

_Maybe it’s the sun on my skin_ , Legend thinks. 

The door to one of the houses flies open, slamming against the wall with a _bang_ , and Legend looks over to see Wind standing in the doorway, staring at the group on the dock.

“LINK!" Aryll screams, and she nearly knocks Legend back into the water as she barrels past the three heroes, sprinting up the beach towards her brother. Wind leaps off the house’s front deck, vaulting over the fence and sprinting down to the shoreline, his boots spraying sand into the air. 

They collide on the shore, Wind sweeping Aryll off her feet in a giant hug. Legend smiles.

“Shall we?” Wild holds out his arms, and Legend leans on one, Hyrule reluctantly latching onto his other side.

“You’re wet,” he mutters, and Wild laughs. 

“Your loss.”

They’re halfway up the beach when Legend looks up to see Wind booking it towards them, skidding through the sand. He barely has enough time to brace himself before Wind lands face-first in the middle of their chain of three, and Legend loses all sense of balance, thudding to the ground.

He's afforded a great view from his place atop the sand, although the sun is rather bright. There's something disgustingly sweet happening to his right, which he ignores best he can, instead pushing himself to a seated position.

He finally finds his balance on the sand only to get a faceful of Wind. He goes down again. Wind is shouting “You're okay!" or some other such nonsense, and as Legend's back hits the sand and Wind wraps him in a suffocating hug, Legend _isn't_ grinning, and he _isn't_ grinning as he sits up again, shoving Wind off him.

“Oh my goddesses!" Wind shouts. “We all thought you were dead!"

“What gave you that idea?" Legend scoffs.

“‘Oh my goddesses' is right." Wind turns to see a glowering Tetra standing behind him on the sand. “You had better have a good fucking explanation for why the hell you left without a note!"

Wind cringes. “Sorry?" he says. “I didn't think I'd be away for so long..."

“You didn't even tell anyone you were leaving!" Tetra shouts. “We've been scouring the seas for you! Do you have any idea how worried we've been? The other day, I got Linebeck to admit that he was scared. _Linebeck_."

“I know, I know," Wind says, hanging his head. “I know he was scared. He was the one who picked us up; he’s already yelled at me. I'm sorry."

Tetra laughs breathily, sinking to the ground to wrap him in a hug.

“I know," she says. “You’d better be. Just don't do it again, you moron."

“Wind? Is everything okay- holy fuck!" Four stands in the house's doorway, leaning against the doorframe and running his hand through his hair. His grin is infectious. “Guys, you've got to come see this!" he shouts into the house, then runs down the ramp towards them.

Wind laughs. “Maybe now that you guys are back, Time can finally get some fucking sleep!"

“Time hasn't slept?" Hyrule asks, eyes wide.

“Nope!" Wind grins.

“I'm so dead," Wild breathes.

“Yeah..." Wind smirks in every silbing's signature sucks-to-be-you sort of way. “You really are."

Four skids to the ground in front of them as Wild groans, burying his face in his hands.

“Twilight is going to _kill me_ …”

“Actually, Twilight’s in bed with a pretty serious abdominal wound,” Four says. “But you’re back! Hylia knows that’ll be good for him to hear.”

“Wait, what?” Wild looks up sharply. “How did he get hurt?” 

“It was a group of shapeshifters,” Wind explains. “Three of them snuck up on us, pretending to be you guys.”

“Ugh!” Hyrule runs his hand through his floofy bangs. “We had to deal with some of those guys, too.”

“We all probably came through the same portal, then,” Legend concludes. “How didn’t we run into you?”

“We came to look for you the morning after you left,” Four says, “and found the portal at the bottom of the cliff around midafternoon. The next morning was when we had the run-in with those fox-creatures, and we left that battle in pretty rough shape. Linebeck found us on the beach later that day, and we knew that if you were still on the island, we’d have to come back for you after getting patched up.”

“We already would have been on the boat at that point,” Hyrule realizes.

Warriors sticks his head out the doorway, grinning broadly when his eyes land on the group on the beach.

“Time!” he calls back into the house. “Sky! Come see!”

Sky appears beside him in the doorway, and he lets out a laugh. “Thank Hylia,” he breathes, jogging down the path. Warriors follows him. 

“Oi, Legend!” Warriors calls as he skids to a stop in the sand. “Joined these two’s group, eh? I never thought you’d be the type to run off like that.”

Something inside Legend sparks, and he scrambles for a retort, opening his mouth. No words come out. Then, Time walks out onto the porch, rubbing his good eye, and Legend’s mouth shuts. 

The moment Time lays eyes on the group at the beach, something in him shifts. His shoulders drop, and he grins. Stomach sinking, Legend notes the darkened bags that sit under the old man’s eyes.

Time jogs down to the beach, slowing to a stop in front of the missing trio. Legend finds himself rising to meet him, and he looks to his right to see that Wild and Hyrule have done the same.

“You’re okay,” Time says under his breath. “You-”

“I’m so sorry, Time!” Wild interjects, loud and rambling. “I wasn’t thinking, and I just-” 

“I know,” he says, bending down to wrap the Champion in a hug. Wild is stiff for a moment, before he leans into the embrace, awkwardly patting Time on the back with his still-drippy hand. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

After a moment, Time pulls out of the embrace, his shirt bearing a large Wild-shaped wet spot. “All of you.” He hugs Hyrule, then, and Hyrule looks over towards Legend with wide eyes as if to ask what to do. Legend inclines his head with a grin, and Hyrule hesitantly wraps his arms around Time.

“You guys need to stop worrying us like that,” Sky interjects. 

“I’m too old,” Time groans, laughing under his breath. 

Finally, Time turns to Legend, holding his arms open with a grin. Legend eyes him, raising an eyebrow and shifting his stance backwards. 

“Seriosuly, Old Man?” he says, curling his lip. “You expect me to-”

Time lunges forward, wrapping his arms around Legend’s midsection, and Legend finds his face slammed into the fabric of his shirt.

“What the fuck are you-”

“I was worried about you,” Time whispers. “Just- just allow me this, please.”

“What, am I your son?” Legend scoffs, but he wraps his arms back around Time.

 _He was that worried?_ Legend thinks. _About me?_

Then, a second pair of arms wraps around his waist, and Legend looks down to see Wind burying his face in Legend’s tunic.

 _Maybe…_ he thinks, _maybe that’s okay._

He ignores the teasing calls of Warriors somewhere to his left. His ears latch onto the sound of the ocean’s breath as he leans into the warmth seeping off Time, his ocean chilled bones slowly thawing.

_In..._

_Out..._

_In..._

_Out..._

**\----**

“Yeah, no, this really isn’t that bad,” Four says. “I can have a new buckle on by this evening, now that I have all my tools.”

“So he's good to go, then?" Wild asks, practically bouncing where he stands.

Four laughs. “Yes, Wild. He can go."

“Sweet, thanks!"

Legend groans as Wild grabs him by the forearm and drags him out of Four's forge and into the field, where Hyrule waits. 

It’s been a week since their arrival at Outset Island. This morning, a portal appeared outside Wind’s house, and the heroes walked through to find themselves in Four’s Hyrule Field, right in the middle of a pack of infected wolfos. After the week of rest, Legend can limp around mostly without trouble, Twilight is healing well, and they all _should_ be enjoying a lazy afternoon at Four’s place after their hectic morning. Hyrule and Wild have other plans.

“What took you guys so long?” Hyrule greets.

“Four’s fixing Legend’s bag,” Wild says. 

“I won’t be losing any more ocarinas.” Legend chuckles under his breath. “Where are you dragging me off to this time?"

“Well, we thought, since we haven't been to Four's world yet, and we just got here..." Wild trails off.

“It'd be fun to have a little look around!" Hyrule finishes.

“No look around is ‘little' with you two,” Legend grumbles. 

“So you'll come?" Wild asks.

“No." Legend turns to leave. “I need a nap."

Wild grabs him by the wrist. “What you need is a little excitement!" He pouts when Legend rips his arm out of his grasp. “Come on! We need you to make sure we don't end up dead in a ditch somewhere."

“Wild scares me sometimes," Hyrule adds in helpfully.

“You know you want to!"

“It's so boring, just lying around all day!"

“I thought you said you'd go out exploring with us more!"

“Seriously, we'll die without you!"

“Do you want dinner tonight?" Wild says finally. “That's not a threat, I just mean if I die you won't get dinner. Definitely not a threat."

That does it. Legend turns back with a sigh. “Lead the way, idiots."

He lets himself be towed across the field at breakneck speed, past trees and houses and paths.

“I saw this really cool looking forest on our way here," Hyrule is saying, “that's in this direction.”

“The one Four said was-" Wild gasps for breath - “called Minish Woods, I think?"

“Yeah, that one." Hyrule says.

“It did look like fun," Wild says. “With that big archway at the entry?"

“Yeah!" Hyrule says.

“Did-" Legend gasps for breath. “Didn't Four also say we probably shouldn't go in there? Something about-” _gasp_ “-getting lost?”

“Did he?" Hyrule asks. “I didn't hear."

“I don’t remember," Wild says in between breaths. “You know my memory is terrible." He winks back at Legend, who sighs.

When they reach the forest, however, Legend has to admit it does look quite interesting. The giant marble archway at the entry speaks to secrets, and something ancient and dusty inside him is singing as he lets himself be led through, into the shady blue eaves of the pine trees.

They run through the forest for a while before Wild stops in a cool clearing near a stream, sitting on the ground and beginning to dig through his bag.

“I brought lunch," he says by way of explanation.

Legend and Hyrule sit down. The cool grass prickles at Legend’s exposed legs, a sensation that is simultaneously nostalgic and uncomfortable. Wild pulls out loaves of bread, hunks of cheese, handfuls of wildberries, apples, hard boiled eggs- Legend hadn't realized he was hungry, but his stomach is growling.

“Dig in,” Wild says, and he’s more than happy to oblige.

As Legend’s mouth is filled with the tangy, creamy flavor of goat cheese, as Wild not-so-discreetly shows off his newfound skill by snapping an apple clean in half, and as Hyrule starts talking animatedly amidst the sound of birds calling and chirruping through the afternoon air, something warm and bright bubbles up inside him. Legend finds himself smiling, and he can’t stop. Part of him doesn’t want to.

 _I’ve grown attached_ , he realizes a bit belatedly, and the cheese suddenly tastes sour in his mouth. He sets the piece of bread he’d just picked up back down and runs his hand through his hair. _This can’t last._

Legend knows there will be a day when the heroes complete their quest, that there will be a day when he has to say goodbye. He knows there will be a day when all of the heroes must return to their own times, when they’ll take their place as nothing more than a wisp of a memory in his mind, when they’ll be so far out of his reach they may as well have been a dream. He’s known that day will come since the beginning, since he realized what was going on, and he’s known that he has no control, that it will come no matter what he does. That was when he promised himself he wouldn’t get attached. _Promised_ himself that when it came time to part ways, he would be able to move on. That he would be okay with leaving. That he wouldn’t be left in free fall if he didn’t get to say goodbye. Not again. 

_I said I wouldn’t- dammit! How could I have been so stupid-_

“Hey, Legend?” Hyrule’s face is in front of his own. He grabs Legend’s hands, drawing him out of the curled-up ball he’d been shrinking into. “You alright?”

Legend stares into Hyrule’s eyes and sighs shakily. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.”

“If you’re done eating, Legend,” Wild says, wrangling his hair tie out of his hair, “maybe you could fix up my hair for me? It’s been kind of a mess recently.”

“But Wild, you _hate_ -”

Hyrule is cut off as Wild sits down in front of Legend with a thump, yanking his hair out of its hair tie. “Here. If you could just get some of the tangles out?”

“Sure,” Legend says, breathing deeply. “You know you could always get Warriors to do it, right? He’d probably do a much better job than me.”

“Nah. He’d pull half of it out trying to make it look nice,” Wild says. “Plus, he’d probably pin me down until I let him wash it after he got a good look at it. No way am I going to him.”

Legend laughs under his breath, examining the mess that is Wild’s hair. “Fair.”

“Oh, Legend!” Hyrule exclaims. “Let me do yours!”

“Is there really that much to ‘do’?”

“Sure there is!” he says. “Well… maybe not, but it’s kind of all knotted up right now. It can’t feel very nice.”

Legend grunts his consent and Hyrule settles in behind him, beginning to run his hands through Legend’s hair, carefully working out the knots. Legend himself begins working through the tangled mess that Wild calls his hair. Wild starts snapping more apples, one by one, all the while singing a senseless song at the top of his lungs. Legend isn’t sure whether to sigh or laugh. Hyrule is giggling behind him. 

“So, Wild,” Hryule says when Wild finishes a verse. “What song is that?”

“No idea!” Wild says, turning to grin at him. 

“Eh- oi!” Legend grabs Wild’s head, forcibly facing him forwards. “Don’t do that! Do you want me to help you get the tangles out or not?”

“Sorry.” He snickers.

Hyrule scooches around to Legend’s left.

“Can I braid the pink part?”

Legend glares down at him. “Why?”

“Because.” he smiles, and his eyes go all big and hopeful, and Legend sighs. 

“Fine.”

“ _Yes!_ ”

As Hyrule begins to braid Legend’s hair, Legend finds his fingers weaving a plait into Wild’s. 

_I really have grown attached_ , he thinks as Hyrule finishes off his braid and lays his head into Legends lap with a mischievous grin. _You want me to move?_ that grin says. _Then_ make _me._

“I really am sorry about your ocarina, by the way,” Wild says out of nowhere. “I thought cutting through the woods would be faster, and it was so hot in the sun… I didn’t realize it’d be such a mess.”

“It…” Legend’s fingers pause in their rhythmic weaving as he recalls the smooth, red gloss of an ocarina like no other, cool porcelain against his lips; an island he wishes to forget; the instrument tumbling from his bramble-ravaged bag. “It’s okay. It’s about time I got rid of that old thing, anyway.” He blinks hard, trying to ignore the prickling in his eyes. His face suddenly feels warm.

“Your hair tie, please?” Legend says, and if either of the others notice the warble in his voice, they don’t say anything. Instead, Wild holds out the requested elastic over his shoulder. Legend loops it around the tail of the braid until it’s tight, then drops it against Wild’s back. “There.”

Wild reaches back, feeling at his hair. 

“Ooh, what type of braid is this?”

“Dutch.” Legend stretches his back, his spine popping. “I could teach you if you want. All it really is is a French braid where you pull strands to the back instead.” 

“Sounds simple enough.” Wild grins. “I’ll have to try it sometime.”

“Oh, wow.” Hyrule cranes his neck to see. “That’s fancy. I just did a simple three-strand…”

“It’s wonderful,” Legend assures him, grabbing the tail as an afterthought to keep in the little plait. “Wild? You got any extra hair ties?”

“Do I ever?” Wild digs a fistful of stray ties out of his bag. “I lose them so often I usually keep as many on me as I can.”

Legend laughs nervously. “Just one, please.”

Wild picks one out and drops it into Legend’s palm. Legend loops it around the end of the little braid until it stays, and Hyrule smiles. 

“Hyrule, you know you’ve got to let me do yours now, right?” Wild says. “You can’t be the only one without a braid.”

“Okay, okay…” Hyrule sits up. “What part do you want?”

“Hmm…” Wild examines Hyrule’s aggressively floofy hair. “The front, please.”

Hyrule turns so that he’s facing Wild, and Wild gets to work, sectioning out pieces of his hair. 

“I used to do someone’s hair all the time,” Wild comments. “Before, you know? I don’t remember who. She loved when I would braid it, I know that much.”

“What made you remember that?” Hyrule murmurs.

Wild hums, his hands moving deftly to braid Hyrule’s hair. He doesn’t really seem to be paying attention to what he’s doing. 

“I think…” he says finally. “I think it was being around Aryll.”

“Did you have a sister?” Legend asks.

Wild blinks, his hands pausing. 

“...I don’t know. Maybe.”

Wild finishes off the braid with a hair tie from his stash. An intricate French braid wraps from the center of Hyrule’s hairline to back behind his right ear. Hyrule reaches up to feel it.

“Wow,” he says. “I had no idea you could do this!”

“Me neither!” Wild winks. “That’s the power of muscle memory, my friends.”

Legend nods. “That’s beautiful, Wild.”

“Now.” Wild stands and brushes himself off, throwing the leftover apples back into his bag, hesitating, and then putting the split ones in too. “Let’s go explore the rest of this forest, shall we?”

“Yes, we shall!” Hyrule giggles, pushing himself to his feet. “You coming, Legend? Or should we leave you here to rot?”

“Please don’t.” Legend stands, brushing off his tunic. “You leave me here to rot and you’ll just as soon end up rotting yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Wild says. “Is that a threat?”

“No.” Legend gives him a defiant grin. “I’m referencing what you said earlier. Didn’t you say that without me, you two would end up ‘dead in a ditch somewhere’?” 

Wild shrugs. “I probably did say that…”

“Then let’s go!” Hyrule leads the way, strolling off into the depths of the forest. Wild follows, and Legend smiles once more before walking after them.

 _I guess,_ Legend thinks as the three make their way through the trees, _it’s worth it to have to say goodbye._

Wild shouts, motioning them over to see what he’s found. There’s a house in the distance, nestled between pine trees.

 _Besides, I’m already tied to these guys, whether I like it or not. I suppose there’s nothing I can do_. There’s no regret in the statement. Sometimes, it’s nice to be able to love.

“Shall we investigate?” Wild asks as soon as Legend and Hyrule join him atop the hill. “All in favor, say ‘aye!’”

“Aye!” All three chorus at once- well, for Legend it is more of a grunt than a chorus, but it’s the thought that counts, and as Wild and Hyrule sprint down the hill, grinning and laughing, eyes glinting like nothing in the world can stop them, Legend smiles and follows them. 

_I might as well stay along for the ride._

**Author's Note:**

> Please point out any errors you find! Yes, this was edited thoroughly, but it was edited thoroughly on like, two braincells (neither of which was mine), and it's long. So I'm open to corrections!  
> Finally, thank you, to anyone who has actually made it this far, for reading! Y’all are seriously the best.


End file.
